Women are working for free
In New Zealand, the average Pasefika, Maori, and Asian woman are working for free from now until Christmas compared to their male counterparts. Source: Stats NZ and with credit to PSA.org and mindthegap.nz
What are some actions we can all take to address this? Some of my favourites include;
1. Increase pay transparency
If you don’t know how much your peers are making, it can be difficult to determine whether or not you’re being compensated fairly. Many workplaces actively discourage employees from sharing salary information or have complicated pay scales which are hard to understand let alone gain transparency.
The National Bureau of Economic Research in the US has found that transparent pay practices can help to narrow the gender pay gap by up to 30%.
2. Stop basing employee pay on salary history
This just perpetuates a cycle of unequal pay even across successive jobs and companies. Rather, employers should consider setting a clear, transparent salary range for the position they are hiring for.
3. Start valuing the work that sectors with a predominantly female workforce do.
Healthcare and social assistance, education, training, and support services. The current Covid-19 pandemic has brought the value of many of these roles into sharper focus and we are long overdue paying fairly.
