Covid hits Pasifika women
A generation of young Pacific women may bear the scars of Covid for their working lives, after they took a particularly big hit to their employment during the pandemic.
The pandemic and policies to tackle Covid made existing differences worse between Pākehā and Pacific peoples, said Alex Plum, lead author of a report by AUT’s New Zealand Work Research Institute.
Pacific people already experienced higher unemployment, lower wages and greater job turnover, and that did not improve once Covid arrived.
In a survey after the first lockdown, 59% of Pacific households reported job or income losses, compared to 42% of New Zealand European households.
Pacific people had lower home ownership than Pākehā, tended to be younger and often lived in larger households.
Plum said the effects of Covid on Pacific workers’ employment got worse as the pandemic, and lockdowns in Auckland, dragged on through 2021. The people most affected in terms of their employment were Pacific women under 30, living in Auckland.
‘‘And when we look at this particular group of young Pasifika, which also often have children, then it clearly gives us an impression that this must have put a lot of pressure on their financial abilities to make ends meet,’’ he said.
People who struggled early in their career often saw their job prospects and earning ability affected later on, he said.
‘‘So I think for some groups, this might have a really large impact, which might leave scars for a longer period.’’
Pacific people lived predominantly in Auckland, which spent extended periods in lockdowns and at the red traffic light setting. They also tended to work more in industries worst hit by job losses, such as manufacturing, he said.
Brooke Stanley Pao, Auckland Action Against Poverty coordinator, said a lot of Pacific people were on the minimum wage and under a lot of stress, spending time away from their families and struggling to make ends meet.
‘‘It’s not just Pacific people too, actually it’s migrants [as well]. We use migrants as cheap labour in this country. And so, yeah, I think for some people, it’s gotten worse.’’