• Full Story

Close gender pay gap, UN tells NZ

Email
Print

Close gender pay gap, UN tells NZ

3News NZ

The Greens say the Equal Pay Act should be modernised

The Greens say the Equal Pay Act should be modernised

A United Nations committee is urging New Zealand to close the gender pay gap.

It also "notes with concern" the level of domestic violence in New Zealand and the lack of targets to advance women's rights.

The criticisms are in the latest report from the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, reacting to New Zealand's submission taken to the UN last month by Women's Affairs Minister Jo Goodhew.

All UN member states must submit a report card every four years on the status of women, and the committee responds to those reports.

It finds "positive aspects" in New Zealand's report, mentioning the 2009 law change allowing courts to issue protection orders for domestic violence victims, the "It's not OK" campaign against family violence and the cervical cancer screening programme.

When Ms Goodhew left for New York on July 13 she said the gender pay gap was 9.6 percent.

Labour says the Government scrapped the Pay and Employment Equity Unit and should think again about that decision.

The Greens say the Equal Pay Act should be modernised.

Ms Goodhew says the committee recognised that New Zealand has the fundamentals in place for the continued advancement of women.

"I will be discussing its recommendations with my ministerial colleagues and officials," she said.

NZN

Post a Comment

Before commenting, please take the time to read our moderation guide


(Won't be published)



Comments

15/04/2013 10:27:17 a.m.

dave wrote:

aggie is a soggy bitch

6/08/2012 12:22:37 p.m.

Bulgar wrote:

I dont think the gender pay gap registers anywhere on John Key's radar. It'll be for both sexes to collectively act to close the pay gap as it will benefit all - the government wont want to do anything about it.

2/08/2012 7:51:23 a.m.

Mike wrote:

Take any working career from say age 20-65, how many years do men work, how many do woman work on average. Any shorter career has a real cost in finding replacement staff and added training.

Take Sports, in a career woman earn less from sports on average even with pay equity. Why? Well its that time off factor I keep mentioning. Its a real cost, and in proffessional sport it costs in income.

Take Tennis as an example, the career wining of woman (Take the Opens) are much less than mens, even with so-called pay equity due to the time taken off. You will find some woman, like the Williams sisters haven't taken time off, and thier career incomes from tennis open match mens in similar careers.

The Tennis pay inequity issue was firt to demand pay equity in prize money from Open tournaments. Was this fair? Well woman play best of 3 sets with mostly 2 sets played while men play 5 sets with mostly 4 sets played, ie men actually play a totally different game and work twice as hard for the same pay - productivity at work! This is pay inequity not equity. They should either make woman play best of 5 sets, or reduce the mens to best of 3 sets for equity for same prize money.

Valarie Adams is doing well on the world stage in shotput, but again the womans shotput is a fraction the weight of the mens - equity at work. For equity you need to look at reasons for pay inequity, not a magic brush to ignore the causes.

My suggestions of contracting would give less risk to employers and this would lead to less pay gap for it addressing the lower risk to employers of woman taking time out of a career or time off for family. My other suggestion is for society to give men more time off to look after family, this would make the difference between men/woman taking time off for family less to the employer, and also reduce the pay difference. Political racist bigots like David haven't even come up with any suggests on what to do to reduce the pay difference.

1/08/2012 4:19:04 p.m.

adrian wrote:

News Flash.. being expected to survive on hourly rates of average $15 at best as a single women in NZ is little better than a lifetime of poverty. Forget babies, those are issues for couples to resolve, who obviously have chosen to have them. For single mothers in work, they get ample working for families tax credits to see them through,as do the couples actually.Childcare obviously costs, but, these are issues to think about before having babies arent they. All of these topics have absolutely NOTHING TO DO WITH DISMAL PAY RATES IN WOMENS JOBS..... Even unskilled teenage boys in chch are making $17 to $19 hr. But single women have nothing but one meagre wage to survive on, and this will not get any better for them. In general,unless they are R.Nurses,or similar they have no hope of any improvement in their financial situation ever. It is quite appalling.

1/08/2012 3:07:26 p.m.

David wrote:

@Mike gobbledy gook again?. Did you come up with that sexest diatribe yourself?. Last time I went into a business the person I dealt with was barely trained and fairly incapable and had been employed at the establishment for years. Children are the future of the country, women are the only ones that can carry them. There are just some things that employers have to cope with... its reality. But training costs? for the majority of employers.. that would be next to nothing and therefore doesnt justify a wage gap. I know employers now that are threatening to fire staff if they take time off for family. One family has been told by their employer that if they get callled to pick up their sick child from daycare again... they are out of a job. The only way to fix equity issues in New Zealand is to get rid of the Party that causes them... and that always National. Poverty increases, violence increases, wage disparities, employment inequalities... always caused by National. New Zealand now has the largest wealth gap in the developed world... this again was caused by National... and its just a fact that inequalities always worsen under a National government. I see that you are arguing for contracting... bascially because it gives employees no rights. As any with and redneck hillbilly manager... you are only interested in using people... not making the country a better place.

1/08/2012 9:01:55 a.m.

Don wrote:

There should be equal pay when women accept that they need to either get serious about a career or have babies; Currently women think its their right to walk away from a career at any stage to make their domestic life a priority. THAT's why the difference. If men start doing that too, then the pay rates will be the same.

1/08/2012 8:19:03 a.m.

Mike wrote:

The UN has done nothing to actually address pay equality issues.

Take the issue of leave. Society looks to women to take time off more than men, and this has driven a pay gap through the added cost of training staff to cover someone taking time off, even experience not gained while taking time off. These 2 things create a pay gap and till they are adressed it wont be fixed.

If take a woman with the same chance of taking time off as a man, with equal qualification and experience, and productivity, then the pay should be the same. But the the average woman, factoring in time off for kids/family and compare that to the average man, factoring in time off for kids/family and we have a measurable difference which is then reflected in wage rates when an employer employs.

The best way to fix the gap is not to make inequities by giving females more money for less, but to address the society issues, and get men to take more time off for kids/family and the gap will shrink. If legislate to pay woman more for taking more time off for kids/families it will just mean less will be employeed and unemployment amoung woman will increase.

It wont be popular, but sci-fi has at least looked into posible solutions. One solution would to be give more security to emloyers, eg contracting the work, and having society move toward more equality in looking after kids/family so men take more time off and the woman less. If we make the time off more equal, we would make the pay more equal.