Equal pay for equal work
The discussion at the annual meeting of the New Zealand Educational Institute on the subject of equal pay for equal work, with special reference to the employment of men and women in the teaching profession, indicated the existence of a considerable divergence of opinion on the part of the speakers on the question. As in industrial pursuits, so also in the educational world, the point would seem to have been reached that in so far as a woman proves herself capable of performing the duties assigned to her a efficiently as a man would perform them and with as good results, she is legitimately entitled to receive remuneration equal to that which he would receive. The fact remains, however, that a scale of salaries which fails to attract the most highly qualified men into the important
work of education, appears to be sufficient to induce large numbers of women to embrace the teaching profession. While women eagerly advocate ‘‘equal pay for equal work’’, they do not manifest any particular aversion from the acceptance of professional appointments at rates which men would refuse. The reason for this is manifest. A man has to take his domestic responsibilities, present and prospective, into consideration. He must, as far as possible, look for employment carrying a wage or salary that will enable him to maintain a family. The average woman who seeks an appointment does do with the determination to abandon it when she marries. And while there is this difference between the outlook of the two sexes, the practical application of the principle of ‘‘equal pay for equal work’’, or, as Mrs Fawcett puts it, of ‘‘equal pay for equal value,’’ however sound the principle may be, is in the nature of things plainly beset with difficulty. — ODT, 28.1.1919.