Gender pay and retirement savings gaps need addressing, say two separate groups. Photo / 123RF
Pressure is increasing on the Government to address gender pay and retirement savings gaps.
MindTheGap campaigners are calling on the Government to stop "foot-dragging" and publicly commit to a timeframe for action over gender pay inequality.
On October 20, it will be 50 years since the Equal Pay Act was passed in New Zealand, making it illegal for men to be paid more than women for the same work.
But MindTheGap co-founder Jo Cribb says people are still not being paid fairly in New Zealand.
"It's outrageous that an entire half a century after New Zealanders fought for equal pay, large sections of our communities are not being paid fairly or equally. Every day the Government doesn't act is another day where families have less money," Cribb said.
"The Government has said it is looking at addressing pay gaps but hasn't committed to a timeframe. If there was ever a time to honour the good work done by those pioneers of the Equal Pay legislation it is now.
"We call on the Government to publicly commit to introducing mandatory pay gap reporting."
For every dollar a Pākehā male earns a Pākehā woman is being paid 89 cents, a Māori man 86 cents and a Pasifika woman 75 cents, according to Statistics New Zealand's Household Labour Force Survey 2021.
Throwing their support behind MindTheGap's demands are two women who fought for the Equal Pay legislation.
Rae Julian, former Council for Equal Pay and Opportunity (CEPO) secretary and human rights commissioner, said when the legislation was passed, they thought they'd achieved equal pay.
"Twelve years of concerted effort by women's organisations, trade unions, and a specially established group CEPO - it seemed that equality had been attained."
But with women's average earnings more than 16 per cent lower than those of men, Julian says it's obvious that gender equality was still far off.
"Discrimination was a major factor. Jobs performed mainly by women attracted lower pay despite the comparable skills, qualifications and experience brought to mainly male and mainly female work," she said.
Women's advocate Sue Kedgley said they were elated when the Equal Pay legislation was passed but their hopes were quickly dashed.
"Naively we assumed that equal pay for women would be implemented as soon as the legislation came into force, but it became obvious that the Equal Pay Act lacked teeth.
"There wasn't any real penalty for employers who didn't comply with the law. Nor was there any requirement that employers make adjustments to ensure female employees catch up with their male colleagues or ensure they were equitably paid.
"Surely the fiftieth anniversary of the passing of the Equal Pay Act would be an ideal time to put an end to 50 years of foot-dragging, by introducing a new law that would make it mandatory for all organisations to publicly report their gender pay gap each year so that everyone in Aotearoa New Zealand is paid fairly for their work."
Meanwhile, fund management company kōura Wealth is petitioning Parliament to address gender inequality in retirement through changes to the KiwiSaver Act.
The petition, launched today, is urging Parliament to create a Contribution Sharing Scheme.
The voluntary scheme would allow couples - married or de facto - to share KiwiSaver contributions to their financially disadvantaged partner - whether it be because of having or caring for children or because of various pay gaps.
Research this year out of the Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission revealed the average KiwiSaver balance for women is 20 per cent lower than for men, with the gap widening further the older women get.
According to the report, women on average have a balance of $27,061 compared to $32,553 for men.
Figures by the NZ Institute of Economic Research estimated a woman who took one year out of the workforce on parental leave could see a $15,000 reduction in their retirement savings.
Both people in the relationship would need to agree and opt in to the scheme by signing consents with their individual KiwiSaver provider, with the ability to opt out at any time.
Rupert Carlyon, kōura Wealth founder and managing director, said the proposed change to the KiwiSaver Act was a no-brainer.
"The overall system is inequitable, and that's not good enough," he said.
"We want a groundswell of support for this petition to make a change and bring about fairness and freedom in retirement for everyone."
Carlyon said gender disparity in retirement savings was something he has seen a lot of in his role, and which also impacts his own household.
"I was aware that gender inequality in KiwiSaver was a problem that needed addressing... when several financial hardship claims hit my desk and the more conversations I had, including with my wife, it bought home the sense of insecurity and lack of freedom many forecast for their retirement because of this inequality," he said.
"Olivia has a KiwiSaver balance which is less than 40 per cent of my own. This is driven by differences in pay, but most importantly, it is because she has taken time off to look after our three kids and now works part-time to help manage our busy family life.
"I recognise we are in a fortunate position that Olivia can work part-time but the question is, why should she be penalised when her taking time off for maternity and childcare is of great benefit to both of us?"
He said years of research pointing to gender inequality in KiwiSaver show the system needs to be fairer, however, the topic had been debated with limited solutions until now.
The petition is the first step of kōura's KiwiSaver Parity Project, where they will work with industry groups and the Inland Revenue Department to implement the change.