Same job, different dosh
The day TVNZ told me they wouldn’t pay me as much as Mike Hosking for the same job.
The gender pay gap. It’s a myth, innit? Like climate change or the female capacity for multiple orgasm, there are plenty who’ll still treat it like the monster of the Loch or a vacant seat on the bus at peak hour in March. Unbelievable. Evidence has trickled in for decades, but this week was monsoon season. Statistics NZ reported mums earn 17 per cent less than dads. A Massey University survey showed women journalists earn 26 per cent less than their male colleagues, despite making up the bulk of the workforce. Drip, trickle, gurgle. On Friday, Curtin University in Western Australia reported on data covering 4 million employees. It’s some of the strongest empirical evidence to date that a balance of men and women in a workforce reduces the pay gap. I talked to Equal Opportunities Commissioner Dr Jackie Blue. More evidence, I said. Why should New Zealanders care? With just a hint of bemusement, Dr Blue very reasonably replied: Because it’s not fair. Mums take on most of the unpaid work raising children, and then earn almost 20 per cent less over the course of their careers. Jackie was confused because, what reasonable person could argue with that? Hold on a sec, I’ll tally them all up. Nope, too many to count. To them, anecdotes are much more telling. Most go something like this: ‘‘I work in an office/workshop/timber yard with women and they seem pretty happy. They’ve never complained.’’ Well, I’ve got anecdotes, too. In 2004 I was approached to take over the hosting role on TVNZ’s Breakfast programme from Mike Hosking, who’d been ‘‘let go’’ suddenly. I want you to step into the (exact same) role immediately, the Head of News told me. Sure, I said. Just pay me what you were paying Mike. It seemed a reasonable ask; my CV and experience were easily the equal of his, and I’d done the job before. There was a short silence, and then the Head of News laughed right in my face. Oh come on Ali! That’s over a decade ago! Surely things have moved on since then? A few weeks ago I was talking to a friend who works for an iconic, much-loved Kiwi company with more than 10 thousand employees. She’s been in her highly-skilled job for several years and loves it. Her boss was leaving the company and at his farewell drinks, told her the man they’d just hired to work alongside her, with exactly the same job title and responsibilities (but less experience) was making 10 per cent more than she is. She went to her new boss to push for equity, and was turned down. She later heard his reaction went something like ‘‘why’s she not satisfied with what she’s already getting?’’ How’s she feeling? How would you feel? This is the reality of ‘‘unconscious bias.’’ A fancy-pants name for the subconscious beliefs we all have but few acknowledge. Women university graduates will fail to reach their capabilities; women on low wages will fall into poverty by retirement age.
It’s not fair. But you’ve got to want to care about it. Raising pay rates for femaledominated industries would help. Paid paternal leave (specific to men) would help. We don’t have to accept that the biological imperative of child-bearing automatically means a less productive work-life.
My lovely radio producer Mike, a dad of two, put it best as he gesticulated through the studio glass. ‘‘In the 50s dads came home and expected their pipe and slippers on tap, and don’t-let- the-kids-bother-me. Beating the kids was normal. Just because that’s the way it’s always been, does not mean that’s the way it should stay.’’
You’ve got to want to care.