Asians and Pacific people are seeing the biggest ethnic pay gaps in the public sector, according to the latest pay gap data from several major public sector organisations. Photo: 123RF
Asians and Pacific people are seeing the biggest ethnic pay gaps in the public sector, according to the latest pay gap data from several major public sector organisations.
The Public Service Commission has made significant progress in reducing the Māori pay gap from 11.2 percent in 2018 to 5.4 percent in 2023, however the progress is slower for Pasifika - with the pay gap for Pasifika at 16.6 percent in 2023 (compared to 21.6 percent in 2018), while the Asian pay gap had increased from 12.6 percent in 2018 to 13 percent in 2023.
The gender pay gap in the public service has reduced from 12.2 percent in 2018 to 7.1 percent in 2023. The gaps for Māori, Pacific, Asian and disabled women were substantially higher than the overall gap.
At the Inland Revenue Department, Asians and Pasifika also had the highest ethnic pay gaps as of July 2024, and were also the only groups to see a pay gap increase. For Asians it was 15.92 percent (compared with 12.73 percent in 2023), and for Pasifika 13.5 percent (13.26 percent in 2023).
The Ministry of Business, Innovations and Employment's (MBIE) data from late 2023 showed while ethnic pay gaps had decreased overall, the pay gap for Pasifika remained high at 20.4 percent - about four times that of the pay gap for Māori, and twice that of Middle Eastern, Latin American and African (MELAA) people - and 17.5 percent for Asians.
At the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA), significant pay gaps remained for Pasifika (24.42 percent), Asians (15.09 percent) and MELAA (16.36 percent).
The University of Auckland's (UoA) 2024 Gender Pay Gap Report showed the largest pay gaps for Asian and Pacific women, with the largest recorded pay gap of 33.5 percent for Asian women among academic staff, and a 13.1 percent pay gap for Pacific women among professional staff.
Several organisations attributed the pay gaps to more ethnic people in lower-level jobs - for instance the Public Service Commission said the increased pay gap among Asian public servants was likely due to "the growing proportion of younger Asian public servants who are earlier in their career".
DIA said "representation is the primary reason for our ethnic pay gaps", explaining it had significantly greater ethnic diversity in lower-paying jobs.
A UoA spokesperson said in a statement the large gender ethnic pay gap for Asian women in academic staff was partly explained by 50 percent of their students being Asian, many employed as part-time teaching assistants.
The council for the city with the highest Asian population in New Zealand was not yet measuring the ethnic pay gap for Asians. Auckland Council said it started reporting on ethnic and gender pay gaps in 2023, after joining the Mind the Gap registry.
Its data from March 2024 showed a 16.7 percent pay gap for Māori and a 27.2 percent pay gap for Pasifika.
However the organisation had not officially reported pay gap data for Asians, who made up about 20 percent of its workforce.
The University of Auckland partly blamed its pay gap on its large workforce of young Asian part-time teaching assistants. Photo: RNZ / Ziming Li
The 2023 census showed 28 percent of Auckland residents identified as Asian, and projections by Stats NZ were that by 2043, Asians may make up 44 percent of Auckland's population.
Auckland Council general manager for people services Pauline D'Unienville said it would be adding both Asian and MELAA categories to its reporting in 2025. She said the council's challenge lay in "representation across all jobs and levels in our organisation".
"To address this, we are constantly looking at how we are recruiting and who we are appointing into jobs, and how we are retaining staff and enabling them to advance up to higher levels in the organisation."
Immigration systems produce racial inequalities in pay - researcher
A researcher of Asian migration and racial justice said the overlapping inequalities in the labour market and the immigration system could be a contributing factor to the pay gaps for Asians.
Dr Ritupurna Roy, part of a MBIE-funded project on ending racial oppression, said many were seeing their qualifications and past experience devalued and consequently taking up entry-level jobs.
Dr Ritupurna Roy says public organisations in New Zealand should collect data on Asian groups. Photo: Supplied
"A lot of them in the Asian group are first-generation migrants who are coming through the immigration system. As a result they often have different employment opportunities, which is largely influenced by their visa and citizenship status, which also limits their ability to speak and advance in employment."
Roy said there was a policy gap when it came to the wellbeing of Asian New Zealanders, including with regards to employment and pay gaps.
"There appears to be insufficient attention given to the specific challenges faced by Asian women or the Asian group as a whole. In some cases, some organisations even fail to collect ethnicity data for the Asian group altogether, which further highlights the lack of policy focus on this matter currently."
Roy said Auckland Council's lack of data for the pay gap for Asian staff was "not good enough", considering the demographics and projected population growth of Asians in the super city.
"There shouldn't be any excuse for public organisations to not collect data on asian groups" she added.
Pacific women and women of colour bear brunt of pay gaps - researcher
Pacific women's advocate and researcher Seimoana Naisali said Pacific women and women of colour - particularly mothers - bore the brunt of pay gaps.
"If you're a mum and you're Pacific, you face additional barriers such as bias and discrimination from employers [and] cultural obligations."
Naisali, who was undertaking a PhD looking at pension disparities for Pacific women, said Pacific women and women of colour were also under-represented in leadership, contributing to the pay gaps.
She said while there had been some improvement over the years, there remained much to be done to ensure Pacific women and women of colour were given equal opportunities for career advancement.
She called for more pay transparency and acknowledgement from employers of their own possible biases.
"For many Pacific women, the community and family often take precedence over your individual wellbeing, which can affect your career advancement. And so this can be misunderstood by employers as a lack of ambition, or leadership potential, and it also means they may be less likely to negotiate pay or pursue promotions."
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