UPFRONT Gender pay gap widens

Pay increases for women lag more than three percent behind their male counterparts, according to the recently released Statistics NZ Income Survey.
Fulltime pay for men rose 6.3 percent between June 2004 and 2005, that for women went up just 3.2 percent which means that the gender pay gap is widening again with women now earning an average of 82 percent of male income. The overall average wage increase was 5.6 percent.
This shows women are not getting their fair share of pay rises, according to Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner Jude McGregor who notes that the most significant pay increases occurred in occupations such as trade, plant and machine operation or agriculture and fisheries – areas in which women do not traditionally work.