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RNZ News
a day ago
- Business
- RNZ News
New Zealand falls in latest global gender equality rankings
Parity in ministerial positions dropped from 81.8 percent to 53.8percent over the past two years. Photo: 123rf New Zealand has slipped a spot in global rankings for gender equality, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF). The WEF's latest Global Gender Gap Report , which benchmarks performance of individual nations across various economic and social indicators, said New Zealand maintained high standards globally, but that a downward trajectory loomed. Weaker economic opportunities and political representation for women had bumped New Zealand from fourth to fifth. The WEF report measured gender parity across four key dimensions - economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. Each dimension was assessed using various indicators and weighted accordingly. In terms of economic participation, New Zealand ranked below 70 percent for the first time since 2007. "The subindex exhibits a downward trend, despite minor fluctuations over time. There is a further decline in executive perceptions of wage equality." The report also pointed to falling political empowerment, setting back "notable progress" from 2019-23. "Parity in ministerial positions has dropped by nearly 30 percentage points, from 81.8 percent in 2023 to 53.8 percent in 2025. "Similarly, parity in Parliamentary representation now stands at 83.6 percent, down from full parity achieved in 2023." Minister for Women Nicola Grigg. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon Minister for Women Nicola Grigg told RNZ that, despite the lower ranking, New Zealand remained in a strong position. "While New Zealand has dropped one place in the latest ranking, we remain in the top five globally, including maintaining first place in educational attainment. "This is a strong position, reflecting long-term commitment." The coalition government has not ruled out a mandatory pay gap reporting system, which the previous Labour government introduced in August 2023 . Cabinet has yet to make any decisions, with the focus for now on supporting businesses to build the capacity to measure and report their own gaps. If ministers were to push ahead with a mandatory pay gap reporting system, decisions would first be required around funding and resourcing the system. As such, the government has sought to ramp up data on the gap itself and its causes, Grigg said. "The gender pay gap is complex and nuanced, with around 80 percent of contributing factors being 'unexplained', like hiring bias. "That is why, last year, I launched the first-ever government-backed Gender Pay Gap Toolkit , which was designed by businesses themselves to help them address these complex issues. Since launching the calculator toolkit, we've had great engagement, with over 23,000 visits to the site." Grigg told RNZ that the government's recent pay equity changes, which changed the bargaining system, while scrapping all existing agreements and notifications, supports gender equality. "The changes will identify genuine sex-based discrimination in the workplace. New Zealand's system remains more liberal than many listed in the 2025 Gender Pay Gap Index, for example. "Having a fair-pay equity system and giving businesses resources to reduce the gender pay gap contributes towards achieving gender equality." Dame Marilyn Waring. Photo: Supplied In response to those changes, a cross-party group of female former MPs, led by Dame Marilyn Waring, formed the People's Select Committee on Pay Equity pressure group . Former equal employment opportunities commissioner and advisor to the group Saunoamaali'i Karanina Sumeo told RNZ that the changes would have come about too early to be counted in the WEF report. "The global ranking is something that makes us look great, but we've got to look underneath that," she said. "We know around 38.2 percent of households in New Zealand think that their income is either not enough or barely enough to get by - that should matter to us more." While progress had been made, Sumeo said underlying drivers of gender inequality still persisted. "I wouldn't feel comfortable that we're going to maintain it in the top five. I suspect that we're going to fall back." Sumeo said a mandatory system would be ideal and, while she hoped the government moved it forward, she wasn't holding out for it. "Unless it's mandatory, it won't go on a to-do list, so ultimately we'd like to go there, but also we need to support our businesses, so it's not a scary exercise to do and so we're all doing it for the right reason." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Irish Times
a day ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Ireland has 10th smallest gender equality gap in the world
Ireland has the 10th best gender equality gap in the world but global parity is 123 years away at the current pace of improvement, according to an annual report by the World Economic Forum (WEF). The report found that Ireland's gender equality has closed to 80.1 per cent, but the score was held back by the disimprovement in the number of women in political leadership positions in the State. The global gender gap has closed to 68.8 per cent, marking the strongest annual advancement since the Covid-19 pandemic , according to the WEF's Global Gender Gap Report 2025, released on Thursday. The report, which covers 148 countries, shows that while 'significant strides' have been made in political representation and economic participation, with near parity in a number of foundational metrics, 'stark' gaps remain in women's representation in top leadership positions. READ MORE Iceland retained its place as the world's most equal economy from a gender perspective for the 16th year in a row, having closed its gender gap score to 92.6 per cent – with 100 per cent meaning gender parity. The top five is rounded out by Finland (87.9 per cent), Norway (86.3 per cent), the UK (83.8 per cent) and one of just two non-European countries in the top 10, New Zealand (82.7 per cent). Will rent reform make building apartments viable? Listen | 40:12 The other non-European country is Namibia, which placed behind Sweden and the Republic of Moldova, 81.7 per cent and 81.3 per cent, at 8th. Ireland squeezed in to make its 18th top 10 appearance with a score of 80.1 per cent, just behind Germany at 80.3 per cent in ninth place. The State's score fell slightly, by 0.1 per cent, and dropped one rank in the index as a result, but has made a considerable improvement in its overall gender parity score since 2006, narrowing the gap by 6.8 per cent. [ Irish businesses observe 'silent slowdown' in the economy as confidence falls Opens in new window ] In the same period, Ireland has narrowed its economic gap by 11.5 points, an improvement in the metric last year contributed to that growth in parity. We reached full gender parity in education four years ago and have maintained that level since. Representation of women in senior economic roles decreased slightly this year, however, and the State's score for political parity fell as a result of the reduction of women in ministerial positions, which decreased from 28.6 per cent to 21.4 per cent. The countries with the worst gender parity, according to the study, were the Islamic Republic of Iran, which placed 145th of 148 countries with a score of 58.3 per cent; Chad, which placed 146th with a score of 57.1 per cent; and Sudan placed 147th with a scores of 57 per cent. Pakistan was the state with the lowest level of gender equality, with a score of 56.7 per cent – which the study said was led by a decline in economic participation. The country saw a second consecutive regression in gender parity, with less than half of women being classified as literate. 'The evidence is clear,' said Saadia Zahidi, managing director of WEF. 'Economies that have made decisive progress towards parity are positioning themselves for stronger, more innovative and more resilient economic progress.' The index values are calculated based on gender parity in metrics measuring economic participation and opportunity; educational attainment; health and survival; and political empowerment.
