The government says newly updated gender pay gap figures show the issue remains at bay, but advocates warn that differences in calculation could show the gap may be widening overall and that Māori women are still being left behind.
Minister for Women Nicola Grigg says Statistics New Zealand’s (Stats NZ) new findings confirmed a ‘near record low’ with the gender pay gap at 5.3 percent in the June quarter, only 0.1 percent up from last year, saying it is thanks to the work of the government and employers to identify and close them.
The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZTCU) says, however, that Grigg is putting a positive spin on a situation with no positive improvement and that calculating the data by the mean instead of the median shows a stark difference.
“This Government has perpetuated the cost-of-living crisis by scrapping one of the most powerful tools to close pay gaps – pay equity,” says Melissa Ansell-Bridges, Secretary of the NZCTU.
“We need leaders who will fight to close gender and ethnic pay gaps, not make them even worse.”
Different calculation methods
NZCTU claims the mean reflects the full diversity of women’s work to capture the influence of low-paid and high-paid workers. Using the calculation changes the figure to a 9.6 percent gender pay gap for the June quarter, up from 8.7 percent in 2025.
| Measurement/Calculation | Men | Women | Pay gap | 2025 gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median hourly earnings | $36.92 | $34.95 | 5.3% | 5.2% |
| Mean hourly earnings | $44.92 | $40.61 | 9.6% | 8.7% |
The data above has been derived from Stats NZ.
Māori trail behind
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi released the 2026 Work for Free Calendar showing the contrast of women of different ethnicities to Pākehā men. With the gaps in place, they say Pacific women start working for free on 1 October, Māori on 20 October and Asian women on 21 October. Pākehā women follow on 20 November.
According to their calculations, the gap for wāhine Māori was down slightly, but not a significant leap.
Mean measurement:
- Compared to men of European NZ ethnicity, the pay gap for Māori women was 20%, down from 20.5% in 2025.
- Compared to men of Māori ethnicity, the pay gap for Māori women was 6.4%, up from 5.2% in 2025.
Median measurement:
- Compared to men of European NZ ethnicity, the pay gap for Māori women was 15.8%, down from 17.6% in 2025.
- Compared to men of Māori ethnicity, the pay gap for Māori women was 3.5%, up from 2.1% in 2025.
The data above has been given by NZCTU, derived from Stats NZ.
July Fidow, a Rotorua schoolteacher and member of the Post Primary Teachers’ Association, says for Māori, the news is disappointing.
“Ki ōku nei whakaaro he tino pāpōuri mātou ki tēnei pūrongo, nā te paihēneti rua tekau mā rima, kei te tino tōmuri mātou ngā wahine Māori kei te mahi i ngā mahi pērā i ngā kaihoroi, me ngā kaiako Māori,” she says.
The government passed the Equal Pay Amendment Act 2025 under urgency in May 2025, which cancelled 33 active equity claims affecting over 150,000 to 180,000 women. Fidow hopes the government will reconsider it, and asks women to vote wisely in these November elections.
“Tēnei te wero ki te kāwanatanga nē, me āta whakaaro ki te hauora o ngā whānau, me te whakaaro ki te Equal Pay legislation mō te mana taurite. Mehemea ka whakatū anō ētahi pire, ka whai hauora mātou, ngā whanau o Aotearoa nei, ko tērā te wero ki a mātou katoa, ā te whitu o Noema, me haere ngā tahi mātou o te motu nei ki te pōti o te mana taurite.”
What are the solutions?
Minister for women Nicola Grigg acknowledged in a press release that Māori and Pasifika are still doing it hard.
“Today’s figure shows there’s still work to do to reduce the gender pay gap further – the gaps for Māori and Pasifika women especially are still far too wide – and I encourage businesses and organisations to lean in and address them”.
When asked what work was being put in to improve the stats, Griggs pointed to a government calculator.
“We were the government that launched the first ever gender pay gap calculator toolkit. We did that in 2024; that was just before that record number of 5.2 was posted...We’ve had 80,000 hits on our calculator. We are seeing it [the gender pay gap] starting to drop”.
