It’s a man’s world
Minister’s Covid concerns
Women are more likely to lose their jobs due to the Covid-19 crisis but advocates say the Government’s planned economic recovery efforts favour workforces dominated by men.
The Ministry for Women warned its minister Julie Anne Genter that if the uneven response was not addressed, it risked further exacerbating gender inequalities — particularly for wahine Ma¯ori, Pasifika, disabled or rural women.
The ministry urged Genter to raise the issue with Minister of Finance Grant Robertson, highlighting the emphasis on infrastructure projects as an example of “biased thinking”.
“What is clear . . . is that gender is a ‘nice to have’ in times of crisis, in the case of the aftermath to the Christchurch earthquake and in advice prepared to respond to Covid19,” it said.
“For example, the focus on ‘shovel ready’ projects will benefit workforces that are massively dominated by men.”
The ministry noted women were just 14.4 per cent of the construction workforce, and 24.5 per cent of the electricity, gas, water and waste services.
Industries hit hard by Covid-19 — such as retail, tourism and hospitality — employed high numbers of women.
The ministry acknowledged initiatives such as the Provincial Growth Fund redeployment and the $3 billion infrastructure spend were necessary to mitigate the economic impacts of the crisis.
“[However,] due to the urgency required they have not been designed using a gender lens . . . this will result in disproportionately negative outcomes for women.”
Professor Jennifer Curtin, the head of University of Auckland’s Public Policy Institute, said gender had to be considered if New Zealand wanted to move forward.
“My concern about this shovel ready, Ministry of Works, nostalgic spending is that, what happens if too many women lose their jobs, then can’t find a job, and end up staying home and taking care of children?” she said.
Curtin said it was frustrating to see a lack of funding in social infrastructure like health, caring, and education when research showed that would create more jobs than the same investment in construction.
She said part of the issue was that New Zealand didn’t yet have a gender-responsive budgeting process, where agencies were required to explicitly and systematically ask “who” was benefiting from policy, and how it would address inequalities.
Women’s Rights Commissioner Saunoamaali’i Karanina Sumeo said it still felt like an add-on, with women still on the outside. “We’re always in the position [of] adviser, not the decision-maker,” she said.
Sumeo said she wanted to see procurement processes that required gender quotas, and contracts with a living wage, as part of the response.
She said the volunteer sector — dominated by women — should be paid and childcare subsidies increased so women could retrain in vocational positions and at university. ”
Genter said she thought there were two ways to address the inequities — by making trades more attractive to women; and by recognising the value of unpaid work done by women, including childcare.
She wanted more money for solo parents, saying the lockdown showed it was impossible to care for children and work at the same time.
“The sole parents’ benefit is insufficient. . . . Stimulating the economy isn’t just going out and building, it’s giving people who need money more money.”
Robertson said Treasury had undertaken analysis about which groups were disproportionately affected, and that had been taken into account during the decision-making process. He pointed to the apprenticeships investment as an initiative which would benefit female-dominated industries, like community health, counselling and care work.