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Government statistics released – shows gender pay imbalance needs urgent action

Research released today by the Ministry for Women ‘Empirical evidence of the gender pay gap in New Zealand’ makes a useful and timely contribution to understanding the factors causing the gender pay imbalance.

“This knowledge is especially important given there has been no progress in fixing the gender pay imbalance since 2002. Women are gaining higher qualifications yet unfairness remains,” CTU President Richard Wagstaff said.

“This research is a call to action for employers about the role of both conscious and unconscious barriers that prevent women getting paid fairly. It shows that discrimination plays a very large part in the gender pay imbalance.”

“This is especially timely given the work the State Services Commission and CTU unions are doing to develop principles in the state sector that address these very issues.”

“Paying Women equally can only be achieved when we have fair pay systems that are transparent and free of bias,” Wagstaff said.