Pay differences based on performance are justified. Pay differences based on gender or ethnicity aren’t justified, and that’s the key focus at Still Minding The Gap, funded by Clare. Their new research is showing what factors are driving gender and ethnic pay gaps and the results are startling.
STILLMindingTheGap.nz is campaigning for urgent action to reduce New Zealand’s gender and ethnic pay gaps by encouraging the Government to make pay gap reporting mandatory for businesses over a certain size as an important step to close unjustified pay gaps.
The gender pay gap for all women is now around five percent. For wāhine Māori it’s 12 percent, for Pacific women almost 16 percent, and Asian women about 10 percent.
Only 20 percent of our gender and ethnic pay gaps can be explained by factors such as a woman’s education levels, occupation or experience. Up to 80 percent are being driven by decisions made within organisations about pay and promotions including unconscious and conscious bias.