Pay gap closing fast

The gender pay gap among government workers is closing at the fastest rate in nearly two decades but women continue to be paid less than their male peers.

New data released by the State Services Commission (SSC) today shows the 2019 pay gap has dropped to 10.5 per cent, falling 1.7 per cent since 2018.

This is the largest annual decrease in the public service gender pay gap in 17 years, and the smallest gap since the state began measuring the difference in 2000. Average salaries for public service workers in 2019 were $86,900 for men, a 3.3 per cent increase on the year before, and $77,700 for women, a 5.1 per cent increase. Eliminating the public service gender pay gap was a condition of the confidence and supply agreement between Labour and the Green Party.

Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter, a Green MP, said the Government was mostly meeting its targets in achieving pay equity, and there was excitement for ‘‘some momentum and progress on this issue again’’.

‘‘We need to keep up the momentum to achieve the substantial progress that we have committed to. We need another substantial reduction next year,’’ she said. ‘‘And I think the work that has been undertaken to date is going to get us there.’’

Genter said a governmentwide taskforce, which had departments reviewing salaries and eliminating gaps between like-for-like roles and starting salaries, was responsible for 52 per cent of the reduction in the gap. Two-thirds of government agencies had done this work so far, she said.

Pay settlements for Ministry of Education support workers and Oranga Tamariki social workers were responsible for a third of the 1.7 per cent decrease, she said. This had closed the gap for Ma¯ ori and Pacific women in particular, she said.

The remaining squeeze – roughly 15 per cent – was an increase in women in chief executive and senior management roles. The number of women in senior management roles has neared 50 per cent, at 49.6 per cent. The Government may marginally fall short of its goal of having half of these roles occupied by women by the end of this year but the SSC expected next year’s figures would show 50 per cent of women in these roles.

Of chief executives, women now occupy 17 of 34 roles, or 50 per cent. Five years ago this was 30 per cent. Women make up more than 61 per cent of the government’s workforce, according to the workforce report.

Oranga Tamariki had a negative gender pay gap, at -2.2 per cent, meaning women were paid more than the mean.

But the pay gap at the Ministry of Defence was at 32.8 per cent.

Genter said the ministry was ‘‘starting from a worse place’’ due to longstanding occupational gender segregation. This does not include the actual defence force.

Genter said she expected the closure of the pay gap could accelerate, now government departments were on board with the action plan.

Nearly 60 per cent of the current gender pay gap was due to seniority and work experience of men, because of their age, the SSC report said.