Opinion Janine Starks

Here’s a male-female statistic for you. Each week men take home 42% more of the weekly earnings pool than women. Kiwis earn $3.8 billion a week via their wages and self-employment in 2022. Of this, $2.23b is earned by men and $1.57b by women.

There are obvious reasons behind the severity of the 42% tilt. More men are in the workforce, so we’re not comparing one man with one woman. Plus, fewer men work part-time.

I’d still argue 42% is an interesting starting point, because it shows the gender imbalance in the economy. It’s the feeding station for societal issues like the pay gap, pension gap and financial power gap.

While there’s a tidal wave of money into male hands each week, 42% is not the