In brief:
- Let’s say the supposed 8.2% gender pay gap in New Zealand is accurate, although these numbers are actually very hard to prove with certainty.
- It has been decades since there has been any pay gap where men and women are doing the same thing.
- If you can’t find a career where women are paid less for doing the same thing, and they are entitled to pursue any career or business, then where is the problem?
- Isn’t this just another political front of identity politics?
The myth vs reality of the gender pay gap
A recent NZ Herald article by Dame Theresa Gattung claims that “women in Aotearoa are being short-changed” due to an 8.2% gender pay gap.
First off, this difference isn’t particularly striking. In any event, where does this number come from, who has checked the work, and does it pick up all the numbers, like government benefits? Even if the number can stand up to scrutiny, to say it is solid evidence of unfairness is an argument, not a fact.
Where is the evidence of different pay for the same job?
No evidence is provided of an actual situation where a man is paid more than a woman for the same job. That is illegal and has been for decades.
The gap Gattung highlights is based on median earnings across all industries, which fail to account for job type, hours worked, or tenure.
Just looking at the aggregate answer ignores all the real world nuances and assumes that the sum of these choices and circumstances should add up equally between the sexes. We don’t know why that would be other than political ideology saying it is so. Another example of the equality of results ideology versus the equality of opportunity.
The role of occupational segregation and choice
Occupational segregation—where women are more likely to work in roles like nursing, teaching, or retail, which tend to pay less—is often blamed for the gender pay gap. There are attempts to equalize these jobs with other ones that are dominated by men, through pay equity, but that is also politics. The comparison of one job to another will always be subjective, with reasonable people disagreeing.
In countries like Mongolia, Tunisia, and Algeria, women pursue generally higher paying careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in greater numbers than in gender-equal nations like New Zealand, which ranks fourth best in closing the gender pay gap. Why? Perhaps economic necessity?
Conversely, in countries with high gender equality, women often prioritise personal preferences, pursuing flexible, fulfilling careers over higher wages. A study in Psychological Science calls this the “gender-equality paradox,” noting that freedom of choice often leads women to less lucrative roles.
Difference in results doesn’t prove bias
Gattung attributes 80% of the alleged pay gap to “hard-to-measure” factors like “unconscious bias.” But such claims are difficult to prove and risk overshadowing concrete, measurable factors like work hours, educational pathways, and childcare-related career breaks. Of course, trying to aggregate all the real data is much harder than just going with big picture numbers that the tax authorities provide.
Raising children remains a major factor. Many women step back from full-time or high-pressure jobs to prioritise family, a personal choice that affects promotions and lifetime earnings. Many do not consider this to be oppression, but a preferable trade-off between career ambitions and personal values.
The intersection of ethnicity and gender
Gattung points out the higher pay gaps for Māori and Pasifika women, but this issue extends beyond gender. The same source shows that Māori and Pasifika men earn less than Pākehā women, but this doesn’t trigger the same leap to unfairness, based on sex, for Gattung. Of course it would support exactly the opposite argument.
