CTU MEDIA RELEASE
5 October 2006
Gender Pay Gap for Women Drops
“Working women will be welcoming news today that the gender pay gap has decreased from 16 per cent to 13 per cent in the
last year,” Council of Trade Unions Vice President Helen Kelly said today.
The NZ Income Survey for the June 2006 quarter released today shows that average hourly earnings for female full-time
wage and salary workers increased from $17.93 to $18.96, and for men it increased from $21.35 to $21.72.
The gap between men’s and women’s average full-time hourly earnings has decreased from 16 per cent in last year’s
survey, to 13 per cent this year.
However Helen Kelly said the gender pay gap is still persistently hovering at around the 13 to 15 per cent level, and at
current progress we would still be many years away from true pay and employment equity for women.
“The Government has set up a pay and employment equity taskforce to address the pay gap in the public sector and that
should mean the figures in years to come will be even better. Unions are committed to seeing this process through, and
want to see it extended to the private sector also,” said Helen Kelly.
ENDS