New research shows pay gaps by industry
If you’re a Māori or Pacific woman working in Aotearoa New Zealand, you’re likely to be paid almost a quarter less than your European male colleagues.
New AUT research shows gender and ethnic pay gaps at the industry level in New Zealand for the first time – and the findings are sobering.
Commissioned by the Ministry for Women, AUT’s NZ Policy Research Institute (NZPRI) has released the report, Gender and ethnic gay gaps: an industry-level portrait of Aotearoa. In addition to examining industry pay gaps, the research looked at workforce representation within industries and what factors are contributing to the pay gaps. This included analysis of what could be explained by differences in education levels, occupation, and what proportion of gaps is “unexplained”.
The research is brought to life through an interactive dashboard (see below) that allows users to clearly see the extent of the pay gaps within specific industries over a seven-year period.
Key findings include:
- The aggregate (all industries) gender pay gap was over 9% in 2022. This varied across industries with for example a 4% gap in Administration services to a 15% gap in the Media & Finance, and Professional Services industries.
- The aggregate (all industries) ethnic pay gaps were about 15% for Māori versus European workers, 19% for Pacific-European workers, and 10% for Asian-European workers.
- There are cumulative combined effects of gender and ethnicity on pay gaps. For example, compared with European men, the aggregate pay gap is 23% for Māori women, 24% for Pacific women, and 18% for Asian women.
- Little progress has been made in decreasing pay gaps over time. The aggregate gender pay gap has dropped from 11% in 2017 to 9% in 2022. But in some industries, the gender pay gap increased over time including in the Healthcare, Hospitality, and Education industries.
- Workforce composition by industry shows women and non-Europeans continue to be overrepresented in lower-paid industries such as Hospitality and Retail. Māori and Pacific are underrepresented in the two highest paying industries of Professional Services and Media & Finance.
- In almost all industries the majority of the gender pay gap is “unexplained”; in other words, it cannot be explained by differences in measurable characteristics such as educational attainment.
NZPRI Director and AUT Professor of Economics Gail Pacheco says the report sheds new light on pay gaps. “The report and dashboard provide workers and firms the ability to assess gender and ethnic pay gaps within their industry and therefore compare themselves to the industry, as well as national average.”
Read the report: Gender and ethnic pay gaps: an industry-level portrait of Aotearoa
Engage with the interactive dashboard