Despite ranking fifth globally, experts warn New Zealand’s gender pay gap remains deeply embedded in many sectors.
According to new data, New Zealand is a global leader when it comes to reducing the pay gap between men and women but academics in social policy warn the stats don’t tell the whole story.
The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2025 shows New Zealand sits fifth in the world for the smallest gender pay gap – just behind the United Kingdom, Norway and Iceland, who lead with a score of 0.926 (with “1” describing total parity).
In Asia Pacific, New Zealand ranks the number one for the best regional gender pay gap, the report finds, with a score of 0.838.
However, it is noted that “there is further a decline in executive perceptions of wage equality. In 2025, New Zealand falls below the 70% parity threshold for the first time since 2007.”
The concern about a decline is echoed by Bill Cochrane (pictured left) and Suzette Dyer (pictured right), senior lecturers at the University of Waikato, who told HRD that pay equity is still very much an issue.
“In research, we found about 80% of the gender pay gap was unexplained by observable characteristics, so whilst it’s great to see us do so well on the international stage, there’s still a lot of work to be done – there’s a lot that could be put down to just pure discrimination,” Cochrane emphasised.
“There’s still a significant income gap between industries and job categories that are still female dominated. The stats, in my mind, don’t actually represent the lives of the majority of women,” Dyer added.
It was noted, though, that the major pay gaps become present in the middle and upper pay levels – whereas the lower paid workers effectively receive the same remuneration because of New Zealand’s “solid wage floor.”
An example of this, highlighted by Cochrane is the female-dominated education sector.
“The fact you have to be skilled in this area has buoyed up pay, but for similar men and other occupations, they would be earning considerably more. So, you've got this thing where you've got a lot of occupational segregation between the sexes.”
In addition, Dyer noted that women are often advised to move to higher-paid industries to reduce the deficit of pay – but it’s not that simple.
“What we see is, historically, when an industry or occupation moves from male-dominated to female-dominated, wages drop significantly. So as a piece of advice, it doesn’t address long-standing issues.”
When questioned on what HR leaders can do to help address issues in pay equity, both Cochrane and Dyer were united in their suggestions – focusing on ensuring audits are done at executive level to truly understand any issues in their systems.
“Organisations need an honest audit of their pay scales,” Dyer highlighted, “but that also means looking at the work people are doing and how that’s rewarded because some tasks that are done predominantly by women are acknowledged differently.”
Cochrane echoed this, calling on organisations to have a better, more honest policy that underlines commitment to change.
“You need a strong infrastructure that allows workers to bargain for better wages – because in many cases, the people at the bottom of the heap have little bargaining power. The same can be said for woman in senior positions.
“So, committing to having mechanisms that allow institutional power, rather than raw market power, to differentiate or to deliver these things is crucial.”
Cochrane outlined the extent of the issue – by questioning the description of the size of the country’s pay gap.
“Let’s say it’s 10%, and that’s considered small. What you have to ask is ‘would you want 10% docked off your wage?’ That number suddenly becomes a lot bigger and much more of an issue.”
