The Workplace Relations and Fair Pay Agreement Bill is a contentious issue at the moment. Whilst the merits of the Bill in terms of improving labour market outcomes for New Zealand are subject to great debate, what should no longer be up for debate is whether the underlying basis for the Bill, the Gender Pay Gap, is a legitimate thing.
The gender pay gap is a measure of what women are paid relative to men.
Whilst it’s calculated differently depending on where you look, it’s most common to calculate the gap by dividing women’s wages by men’s wages. Often expressed as a percentage, the ‘gap’ tells us how much a woman is paid for each dollar paid to a man. In 2021 New Zealand’s gender pay gap was 9.1%, reducing lifetime earnings for women. Womens’ average balances in Kiwisaver are 83% that of mens’ balances, with the gap widening with age.
Despite many people pointing to women’s so-called choices to work in particular industries, or work part-time, the gender pay gap exists for more reasons than occupational segregation. It happens at every stage of a woman's life, and in fact, worsens with age.
Across society, there are deeply held attitudes and beliefs about the types of work that are appropriate for men and women, and the relative importance of the work women do. Women are steered away from science and technology education and often shoulder home responsibilities that impede their capacity to work the long hours required of many professions. These attitudes affect not only the choices girls and women make but also the behaviours of others toward those who make choices that are not consistent with these traditional beliefs.
But is it a choice that women make – to work in certain industries, to take on the caring role and work shorter hours?
Let’s take a look at some facts:
In the home
A study of household jobs done by children in New Zealand revealed gender differences in the home. Girls are more likely to spend time tidying their bedrooms, doing dishes or laundry, and looking after siblings. Boys are more likely to take out the rubbish, mow the lawns, do gardening and clean the car.
To top it off, when children do household chores, boys receive, on average, three dollars more for their efforts.
At school
Studies show that teachers give more time and attention in math and science to boys while giving more time to girls in language and arts.
In middle and high school, girls are more likely than boys to be discouraged from participating in sports and clubs like debate, math and science. But girls are more likely to be encouraged in after-school volunteer work, social programs, and more passive activities.
Choosing a career/study path
By nearly every measure, women outperform men in school and university.
In New Zealand, more women attend secondary school and university, more women complete their qualifications, and women generally achieve at higher levels. However, females in general are not choosing to go into STEM fields for higher learning and employment.
Having a family and supporting elderly parents
Have you ever thought about it – without women having children, we would be the last generation of humans on earth. And yet, women are discriminated against for it.
Women are more likely to temporarily exit the labour force — most often to raise children, although increasingly to care for an older relative — which leaves them with less work experience. In fact, a study of MBA students showed that a year after receiving their degree, only 4% of men had experienced a career interruption of six months or more, compared with 9% of women. After 10 years, 10% of men had experienced a career interruption, compared with 32% of women experiencing a career interruption.
Here, the argument is that women ‘choose’ to care for children and elderly parents, so they naturally end up in part-time jobs or in jobs requiring fewer skills — resulting in slower career progression and lower wages. Is this ‘choice,’ or more societal and familial expectation, or expectations of the mother herself, given the years of shaping and influence she has received?
And when women do choose to take this route, should they be discriminated against for making the choice to look after others?
There are some great advancements being made across some New Zealand businesses, however on average, when women return to the paid workforce they often experience difficulty getting their careers back on track. Even when variables such as education and experience are accounted for, mothers are paid approximately 4.6% less than women who are not mothers.
Whilst in the workforce
Among higher-wage workers, many organisations tend to disproportionately reward those who work long hours. Long, inflexible work schedules tend to weigh more heavily on women, for the above-mentioned reasons, meaning men are more commonly at the receiving end of this reward in ways such as promotion, secondment and leadership opportunities.
Much of this has been exacerbated of late, through increased adoption of flexible working models and globalisation — enabling an ‘always-on’ expectation, which has extended the working day.
This all leads to a wider wage gap for higher-wage women, especially when we broaden the term ‘reward’, and the benefits like work trips, after-hours events and tangible items like vehicles that more often come with more senior roles.
Why?
Unconscious bias is the answer. It plays a significant role in women's employment, pay and progression opportunities.
So really, what ‘choices’ are we allowing women and girls to make? The facts tell us that “choices” stem from a lifetime of decisions shaped by economic and social forces. Whilst most people don’t consciously promote men over women or pay men more than than women, they still have a bias in favour of men. This bias is founded in gender stereotypes that we attribute to the characteristics of men and women.
We make decisions based on these stereotypes so quickly that we’re not aware of it. It’s part of our programming as humans — we take mental shortcuts to make us faster and more efficient. The downside is that we don’t take all the relevant information into account when making a judgement or decision.
It’s a well-known fact that diversity is good for business.
It results in greater creativity, better problem solving and ultimately better outcomes for everyone. So how can workplaces grow diversity and ensure decisions are made with all relevant information?
References
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/464724/new-study-shows-gender-wage-gap-persists-into-retirement
https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/goldin/files/goldin_equalpay-cap.pdf