Minister for Women, Nicola Grigg, has welcomed the latest gender pay gap data for New Zealand.
Statistics New Zealand has confirmed the gender pay gap was 5.3% in the June quarter, a largely unchanged number from last year’s record figure of 5.2%.
“Today’s figure confirms the impact tangible action like calculating pay gaps can have,” said Ms Grigg.
“In 2024, I launched the first ever government-backed pay gap calculator. Since then it has had over 80 thousand visits – which indicates to me that businesses are keen to understand and address their pay gaps.”
The data shows that median hourly earnings for women rose to 34.95% up 3.4%. However, pay gaps remain wider for some ethnic groups.
“Today’s figure shows there’s still work to do to reduce the gender pay gap further – the gaps for Māori and Pasifika women especially are still far too wide – and I encourage businesses and organisations to lean in and address them,” said the Minister.
“As a Government we’re focused on closing the pay gap and supporting women to advance. We’ve launched a database for governance-ready women looking for directorship opportunities called BoardConnector. It aims to advance women into high paid leadership positions across the public and private sectors, and we’ve increased KiwiSaver contributions for employers and employees, which will improve women’s longer-term wealth.
“We’re committed to building the economy and driving women into higher paid jobs. This is how we will continue to close the gender pay gap and, therefore, the retirement savings gap – as well as growing women’s longer-term wealth and financial security,” she said.
