New Zealand still has "more work to do" to achieve gender equality, Minister for Women Jan Tinetti says.
Speaking to Breakfast about International Women's Day this morning, Tinetti said despite some challenges, good progress has still been made.
"We know that we've got work that we've got to do but we've made good progress over the last few years, we've had lots of pay equity settlements impacting on over 110,000 women.
"We've got equal representation of women on Government boards, we've got pay transparency that we're working through and working on, there's lots of good news stories but we know there's more work to do."
Tinetti said achieving gender equality is a "huge challenge" that will take many, many years.
The Government says they’re working on a reporting system, but experts warn the flow-on effects are already piling up. (Source: 1News)
"This year was 130 years since women got the vote in New Zealand and it was only last year that we got equal representation of women in Parliament.
"Having said that, it has made a big difference and we can see rapid change because of that alone."
The minister said things like the leave for miscarriage and still birth bill are the sorts of things that will make a difference to women.
She said while it's important to focus on women as a whole, there are minorities in New Zealand that see some women at a disadvantage.
"Women will face barriers just because they are women, but we do have those intersectional groups and it is really important that we make a focus on them otherwise the gap is just going to get a little bit wider.
"We know for example with the gender pay gap and we know that has come down, the public service gender pay gap is now sitting at 7.7%, the lowest it's ever been.
"Having said that, we've got gaps here across all of our private and public sector that are wider for some groups so we do need to make certain that we're looking at targets and actions that will specifically focus on them to make that difference."
Mind The Gap's Dellwyn Stuart spoke to Breakfast this morning on International Women's Day. (Source: Breakfast)
Tinetti says while today is a day to celebrate all the amazing women who have done amazing things, it's also the day to challenge the status quo.
"This is the day to take stock, this is the day where we look at everything that we do individually and say 'what more can we be doing'."
Also speaking to Breakfast this morning, leading feminist and Mind The Gap co-founder Dellwyn Stuart said New Zealand's gender pay gap is "shameful and terrible".
"We should be ashamed of this, we have to do something about it.
"It is another International Women's Day but not really one to celebrate."
Stuart discussed the importance of mandatory pay gap reporting, saying New Zealand is "10 years behind" countries like Australia.
"It's not good enough, we need action now."
Asked this morning if there will be a legislation in the near future, Tinetti said "there will be an announcement soon".
But Stuart said, "soon is something [that has been] referred to for a long time, wouldn't today be a good day for that announcement".
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