New figures out today reveal a bleak trend for New Zealand women, with the gender pay gap continuing to grow, the Green Party said today.

Figures from the Labour Market Statistics: June 2016 quarter show an increase in the gender pay gap from 11.8% to 12%. Four years ago, the gender pay gap was $9.1%.

“The fact that there’s still such large imbalance in pay shows how far we have to go on getting women a fair go,” Green Party women’s spokesperson Jan Logie said.

“Just four years ago, the gender pay gap had gone down to 9.1% but the trend now seems to be a gradually increasing gap between what men and women are getting paid in this country.

“Underpaying traditional women’s work is a major contributor to women getting paid less than men. We need those jobs,we can’t just tell women to change jobs.We need to pay women fairly whatever job they do.

“The National Government needs to sign off the Joint Working Group on Pay Equity principles, which provide a pathway forward for ensuring women get equal pay for work of equal value.

“This was a negotiated process between Government, unions, and business. There isn’t anything more to consult on – the Cabinet just needs to sign the document.

“We can close the gender pay gap in this country and ensure that every woman is paid what she’s worth, but we need a real commitment from the Government to make it happen.

“It’s well past time for the National Government to be bold and be fair, and ensure that women are paid more,” Ms Logie said.