So let’s talk about equal pay as this is something many of us are hearing about lately and wondering about. Are women and men getting equal pay? The answer is yes, and no. The yes part is that men and women get equal pay for equal work. For instance when you apply for a job the pay will be the same if you are a female or a male. Except of course if you are negotiating your pay or if you are paid extra for your education and/or experience. And then one firm may pay more than another firm.
It is illegal for employers to discriminate against you because of your gender. This is a serious breach of the law and employers would stay well away from this but if you feel that you ARE being discriminated against because of your gender, please contact the Human Rights Commission.
What we have going on at the moment is the “Wage gap” which is … all men’s incomes added together and divided by the amount of men who took part, which gives you the average wage a male in NZ earns. Add all women’s incomes and divide them by the amount of women who took part, which gives you the average wage a female in NZ earns.
These 2 amounts are compared and the women are earning less on average than the men.
Because many women work part-time another comparison is made between the men’s average income in NZ and the women who work part time. This of course shows a wider gap in pay because part time work is paid less than full time work.
This is about equity income and not equality income. Equality income we have as in male and female getting the same amount of money for the same job.
Equity is about the different jobs not getting the same amount of money or part time workers not getting the same as full time workers.
Studies show that a wide - though narrowing - pay gap persists between women and men in all European Union Member States and in Norway, to the detriment of women. Although a variety of factors are cited to explain the existing wage differentials between women and men, most studies conclude that, in addition to the gap arising from these factors, there is an unexplained difference in wages, which is presumed to be due to discrimination.
BTW, this is feminist research. But back to the topic …
Basically what is happening is that men and women are choosing different types of jobs that give different wages. And there are different reasons for this.
Probably the biggest difference is that men work to provide for their family. Women work more to fulfil their desire of a career or for a hobby or for self esteem or maybe for all 3 reasons. Women generally want to have children and look forward to staying at home with them while they are little. Then they are usually happy to go back to work part time.
Another reason is that men take jobs that are risk taking and women prefer jobs that are safe. Men will work in mines and will work on the outside of high skyscrapers and women will work in offices and shops. The different types of job gives reason to different pay.
Another is the physical ability. Men are physically capable to do more than women. Fire-fighters are mostly men. Builders are mostly men.
Occupational choice is still a factor in dealing with the gender gap. One of the many factors that contributes to the wage gap is tendency for women to ”crowd” into certain occupations. Once women over-populate a certain career field, the wage tends to be lessened. Occupations that women tend to choose include school teachers, secretaries, registered nurses, cashiers, managers and administrators, sales supervisors and proprietors. Another reason that contributes to the wage gap is that the employment and/ or careers women choose have a tendency to require little or no continuing education or training. In turn, the earnings for the sources of employment are usually low. It has been assumed that women tend to choose career/employment that allow them to leave and re-enter the labour force with ease
Another is the ability for employers to pay the same wage as other businesses. For instance, retailers cannot afford to pay their employees the same wage as mining companies pay their employees. This is because of competition in the market.
If men and women do not work the same kinds of jobs or the same number of hours, how does Labour propose to “end pay disparities between men and women”? One way will be to require employers to pay men and women the same wages for “similar” or “equivalent” work, i.e., “comparable worth” rules. Another way will be to require employers to provide more paid time off to primary caregivers (mostly women) who have children or elderly family members to care for. Another way will be to require lenders to “increase access to capital and other support for women-owned business.”
I remember being asked the question, “Should an accountant get more money than a childcare worker? The childcare worker is looking after children while the accountant is looking after money. Which is more important?”
The first thing that I thought of was the economic side. How can the Accountant pay a childcare worker if the accountant doesn’t get more money? This is common sense to how things work. For you to be able to afford to place your children in a childcare centre, you would need to earn enough money to pay the childcare centre and pay your rent, your food bill and all the rest. You would not be able to afford to place your child in a childcare centre if the childcare employees were getting the exact same wage as you are.
So this is where the state comes in. The state will increase the incomes of the jobs it has under it’s control which will in turn increase our taxes. During this time the Government will expand and it’s control over the people will increase. Then they will go after the community work. The one area they will have difficulty is the business sector. This is because the business sector is privately owned and competes in the market. At present countries that are further ahead than us have put huge pressure on the business sector from Government policies. These Governments are dragging business to their knees with small and medium business having little hope of survival. The gap between rich and poor will widen. Which, as you can predict will increase even more control for Government to subsidize business income or people’s income. Bit like a merry go round with the Government taking us into a communist state. All feminist roads lead to communism.
Businesses which fail to comply with these increasingly stringent regulations will be subjected to punitive legal sanctions. Consequently, instead of one’s income being determined by one’s productivity, as measured by the marketplace, in Labour’s world it will be determined by government bureaucrats based on feminist-approved notions of “equity.” The result, inevitably, will be to reduce economic liberty, growth, and prosperity for all New Zealanders.
This is however great news for major global corporations of the elite in society. And of course for Governments. Larger corporations can contract work with the state where they can charge any price they like. Then they can pay the wages that the Government wants. There will be no accountability between the state and the major corporations because they will have monopolised the system.
Gone will be the days where one can try to make their dreams come true and pursue a business of their own. Those days will only exist for the chosen few.
Labour clearly does not believe in the ability of the NZ people to govern their own lives, make their own decisions, and abide by the consequences of their actions. Labour believes that government is not the problem, it is the solution.
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