In New Zealand, women make up 50.4% of the overall population (Stats NZ, 2022). Life expectancy at age 65, on average, is 21.6 years for women but only 19.3 years for men.
On average, women have median hourly earnings of $28.00, compared to $30.85 for men. The resulting in a gender pay gap is 9.2% at Jun 2022 and has remained fairly constant over the past six years (Stats.NZ, Aug 2021). The ethnic pay gap further influences women’s hourly earnings, with Pasifika women earning 72c to each $1 for Paheka men, and Māori wahine earning 75c (It's not just a gender pay gap - Gender Equal NZ).
Women are disproportionately impacted by divorce and domestic violence, and have borne the brunt of the COVID crisis, with higher rates of job loss than men (Stats.NZ, Nov 2020).
Women continue to take the lion’s share of childcare and are more likely to work part-time (Ministry for Women, May 2018). As a result, women have fewer opportunities to financially prepare for retirement via asset acquisition or KiwiSaver contributions.
Women in the 2022 RRIP
The 2022 RRIP analysis of what retirement looks like for women has further highlighted how disproportionally worse off they tend to be compared to men.
The impact of working part-time, gender bias and gender pay gaps disadvantage women and are reflected in KiwiSaver balances at 65 years old.
Academic resources
The research listed below does not represent the views of Te Ara Ahunga Ora. Different approaches, methods, and samples were used in these studies and this should be taken into account when interpreting the results.
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Huang, Y., & Curtin, J. (2019). A review of gender differences in retirement income. Auckland, New Zealand: Public Policy Institute. DOI:10.17608/k6.auckland.9699443
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Healey, O., & Curtin, J. (2019). ‘Relationship Status’ and the Welfare System in Aotearoa New Zealand. Auckland, New Zealand: Public Policy Institute/CPAG
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Masselot, A., & Hayes, M. (2020). Exposing Gender Inequalities: Impacts of Covid-19 on Aotearoa ǀ New Zealand Employment. New Zealand Journal of Employment Relations, 45(2), 57-69. https://doi.org/10.24135/nzjer.v45i2.21
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Dale, C., & St. John, S., (2020). Women and Retirement in a post COVID-19 world. Auckland, New Zealand: Retirement Policy and Research Centre.
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Groom, M. (2018). Beyond the pay gap: The retirement disadvantage of being female. Policy Quarterly, 14(1)