Hon Jan Tinetti
Minister for Women

The gender pay gap in the Public Service is the lowest it has ever been, at 8.6 percent, the Minister for Women Jan Tinetti announced today.

“The gender pay gap is the lowest it’s ever been which is a great result. This is a direct result of concerted effort this Government has made,” said Ms Tinetti.

“We made a commitment to closing the gender pay gap in 2018 and we’ve delivered the largest three-year drop since measurement began in 2000. We’ve shown what can be achieved when the Government, the Public Service and unions work together.

This is a 30 percent decrease since the Public Service Gender Pay Gap Action Plan was launched in 2018, when the gap was 12.2 percent. By comparison, the national gender pay gap has remained flat in the same period.

The gender pay gap in the Public Service continued to fall in the last year, down from 9.6 percent in 2020 to 8.6 percent, at 30 June 2021. When measurement began in 2000 the gap was 18.6 percent.

Māori, Pacific and Asian pay gaps have also dropped. The Māori pay gap has fallen in the last year from 9.3 percent to 8.3 percent. The Pacific pay gap has fallen from 19.5 percent to 17.9 percent and the Asian pay gap has come down from 12.8 percent to 11.6 percent.

“More work is needed. We need to make a bigger difference, for more people, by closing ethnic pay gaps as well.”

Ms Tinetti today launches Kia Toipoto, a three-year Action Plan to tackle gender and ethnic pay gaps and, Te Orowaru, a new pay equity work assessment tool that helps recognise the value of cultural skills in work, including te reo Māori.

These two initiatives will support the Public Service to continue to close the gender pay gap and to accelerate gains for Māori, Pacific and ethnic communities.

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