A nationwide poll on pay gaps shows nearly 2 out of every 3 New Zealanders consider pay gaps to be a ‘significant’ or ‘very significant’ issue (64%), with a similar number supporting new pay transparency policies to address the issue (63%).

Only a small minority (8%) oppose measures being introduced. The polling also showed majority support for pay transparency policies across the voting spectrum [ACT voters (53%), National voters (56%), Labour voters (73%) and Green voters (80%)].

Conducted by Talbot Mills Research in May (attached) and released by Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission, the poll comes after the Government formed a national advisory group on pay transparency in October last year to address the large pay gaps for women, Māori, Pacific and those of other ethnicities.

A Commission report last year found that in 2021 for every dollar earned by a Pākehā man, Pākehā women were paid just 89 cents. For Māori men that drops to 86 cents and Māori women 81 cents. Pacific men were paid just 81 cents and Pacific women only 75 cents when compared with Pākehā men.

“Right now, some of our friends, neighbours and family members aren’t being paid or promoted fairly, and they believe it is because of their ethnicity, gender, disability, or a combination of all these,” says Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner, Saunoamaali’i Karanina Sumeo.

“Supporting employers to do the right thing by introducing pay transparency policies is a good first step to help close this gap.”

International evidence shows that workplaces that are more transparent about pay have smaller pay gaps.

“This unprecedented support for pay transparency measures shows that introducing these policies is not only the right thing to do but the only choice for Government,” says Sumeo.

“Our polling found majority support for pay transparency policies by New Zealanders regardless of which political party they vote for. This demonstrates the high value we place on fairness and equality and our ongoing commitment to human rights, whatever people’s political stripes.”

In March this year, 52 prominent not-for-profit organisations, businesses, unions, and faith-based organisations including ANZ, AIA, Auckland City Mission, NZEI, Salvation Army and NZCTU signed an open letter led by the Human Rights Commission to key Ministers including the Prime Minister, Minister Tinetti and Minister Radhakrishnan urging them to introduce legislation with urgency.

In addition, the Government has human rights and Te Tiriti o Waitangi responsibilities to provide tangata whenua and ethnic minorities with just and favourable conditions of work, including fair wages, equal remuneration and employment opportunities, and protection from discrimination.

“Right now, while in a cost-of-living crisis, these pay gaps mean that many families are missing out on crucial wages simply because of their ethnicity, gender or disability. By closing these pay gaps, we could ensure everyone in our communities has the opportunity to thrive, and those families on the lowest wages can unlock the constraints of poverty,” says Sumeo.

“Now is the time for Government to level the playing field and pass a law requiring all employers to be transparent and take action on their gender, Māori, Pacific, and other ethnic and disability pay gaps.”

Notes for Editors

• Results in this report are based upon questions asked in a Talbot Mills Research nation-wide online survey. The basis of the sample is n=1026 nationally representative respondents in New Zealand 18 years of age and over.
• Fieldwork for this online survey was conducted between 5th to the 14th of May 2023.
• The effective maximum sampling error for this sample at the 95% confidence level is ± 3.1%.
• All numbers are shown rounded to zero decimal places. Hence specified totals are not always exactly equal to the sum of the specified sub-totals. The differences are seldom more than 1%.(For example: 2.7 + 3.5 = 6.2 would appear: 3 + 4 = 6)

Background

• A first-of-its-kind research published by the Commission in 2020 provided evidence that unequal pay and pay discrimination was prevalent across the country and the secrecy around pay and career progression exacerbates it.
• In February 2022, the Human Rights Commission handed over a 4,141-strong petition to Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Wood calling for urgent pay transparency legislation.
• The Commission proposed that Government set up an independent agency to collect and publish pay information and provide resources for workers and employers to ensure pay equity and equal employment opportunities.
• The Pacific Pay Gap (PPG) Inquiry was conducted between August 2021 and July 2022 and engaged approximately 1,200 individuals, including Pacific workers, employers, and union members.
• The PPG Inquiry identified gaps in legislation and policies, a lack of leadership visibility from businesses and a culture of indifference towards pay inequality based on ethnicity that has allowed unfairness, discrimination, and hardship to persist in the lives of Pacific workers.
• Our Inquiry report to Government in October 2022 includes a range of recommendations, calling for urgent pay transparency legislation, increasing the minimum wage to a living wage, and broadening the prohibited grounds for pay discrimination in the Equal Pay Act to include ethnicity and disability.
• The full report is available on our website here or the executive summary here.
• https://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/2306/Talbot_Mills_polling_results_on_pay_transparency_legislation.pdf

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