The gender pay gap is defined as the difference between the average salary of women and the average salary of men, and is expressed as a percentage of the average salary of men. The gender pay gap for the Public Service was 16% as at 30 June 2006 (17% in 2005). Because pay varies considerably between occupations, simple pay gap comparisons between sectors that have different occupational compositions are problematic. Controlling for the effect of the occupational structure of the Public Service gives an adjusted gender pay gap of 9% (10% in 2005) in the Public Service, compared with 17% (19% in 2005) for the employed labour force7 as a whole. When adjusted for both age and occupation, the gender pay gap reduces to 7% (8% in 2005) in the Public Service and 15% (17% in 2005) in the labour force as a whole.
7 Source of all employed labour force pay gap figures is Statistics New Zealand, New Zealand Income Survey (June 2006).
