$76.40 each week is what the Government’s inaction on gender pay gaps is costing Pacific women earning the median hourly wage. That’s $3820 this year.

It’s more than the difference between turkey and chicken for Christmas dinner.

As families across Aotearoa prepare for Christmas under tightening household budgets, new analysis shows New Zealand women are missing out on thousands of dollars a year.

Still MindingTheGap spokeswoman Dr Jo Cribb says, “That’s how much less women will have to spend on Christmas – and that’s much more than the difference between a turkey and chicken for dinner. This Christmas, women will be buying fewer presents, stretching the grocery budget, and cutting back.”

Dr Cribb says the findings are a timely reminder of the cost of inaction and the real and immediate cost of the gender pay gap.

“This isn’t an abstract policy issue – it’s a weekly hit to women’s and their families’ pay packets.”

But Dr Cribb says it’s time to close the gender pay gap by introducing mandatory pay gap reporting. International evidence shows that doing so should reduce the gender pay gap by 3-5 percentage points or 20-40 percent.

This could result in all women on the median wage earning $25.36 more per week or $1268 more per year. For wahine Māori, this would mean $58.40 more per week and $2920 more per year. For Pacific women, it would be $76.40 more per week and $3820 more per year.

Dr Cribb says these numbers represent more than statistics.

“Thousands of dollars back in women’s pockets would mean food on the table, school uniforms paid for, or the ability to save,” she says.

“The gender pay gap is costing women and their whānau every single week. Pay gap reporting is an evidence-based, proven tool to close those gaps.”

References:

STILL Minding the Gap (2025) The Estimated Impact of Pay Gap Reporting on Wages in New Zealand

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