Introduction

To improve the circumstances of women in New Zealand, the government asked the Ministry of Women's Affairs to develop an Action Plan for New Zealand Women. The Plan will outline desired outcomes for women and priority actions to achieve these outcomes. To inform the Plan, the Ministry of Women's Affairs, in partnership with the National Council of Women of New Zealand, the Māori Women's Welfare League and PACIFICA, conducted extensive consultations with women across the country to canvass their views.

This report provides a summary of the issues identified through the consultation process. These views, combined with an analysis of the status of women in New Zealand, provided the foundation for the Action Plan for New Zealand Women.

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Consultation process

Submissions

In December 2002, the Ministry of Women's Affairs (the Ministry) issued a discussion document, Towards an Action Plan for New Zealand Women. This document built on earlier consultation processes, particularly:

• Ministry consultation with, and feedback from, women and women's groups and organisations over the last 16 years
• the Ministry's work with other government departments on policy affecting women, their families and their communities
• consultations for the fifth report on the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
• consultations with Te Korowai Wāhine (established in 1999).

The discussion document set out the government's goals, the policy principles the Ministry of Women's Affairs uses to guide its work, and specific issues associated with Māori women. The document also assessed women's circumstances in New Zealand society against three key, inter-related themes:

• Economic sustainability - including adequacy of income, access to paid employment and education, and employment outcomes
• Balancing work, family and community - including caring for children and other dependants and building strong communities
• Well-being - experiencing lifelong good physical and mental health, being safe from violence and meeting the special needs of different groups of women.

The discussion document provided a framework for the consultation process. Submissions were invited from women around New Zealand by mid-March 2003 seeking views on:

• a vision for New Zealand women
• key issues relating to:
  • economic sustainability
  • balancing work, family and community
  • well-being
  • Māori women
  • specific groups of women.

The Ministry received 267 written submissions in response to the discussion document. (Appendix 1 provides a list of contributors.)

Consultation meetings

Public meetings

To provide impetus to the consultation process, the Ministry of Women's Affairs, in partnership with the National Council of Women of New Zealand, the Māori Women's Welfare League and PACIFICA, held a series of consultation meetings around New Zealand. Twenty formal and publicly advertised meetings were facilitated. (Details are provided in Appendix 2.)

Other meetings

In addition to the public meetings, a range of interest groups facilitated meetings independently. These meetings typically resulted in groups presenting submissions informed by their constituents' views. Ministry representatives were invited to participate on a number of occasions.

Focus groups

To ensure the consultation process reflected the views of specific groups of women, the Ministry facilitated a series of focus groups with:

• Māori women
• Pacific women
• migrant women
• women on a low income
• rural women
• women with disabilities.

The views of these specific groups of women, as expressed through all of the consultative mechanisms outlined above, are identified separately in this report. The balance of this document presents the views of women as expressed to the Ministry and Minister of Women's Affairs. The term 'contributors' is used throughout this report in reference to submitters, focus group participants, and consultation meeting participants.

A Vision for New Zealand Women

The consultation process provided a forum through which women could contribute their view of a 'vision for New Zealand women' for the Action Plan. The starting point was a consideration of government goals and the principles used by the Ministry of Women's Affairs to guide policy work (equity, opportunity and choice, full and active participation, adequate resources, no discrimination, and a society that values women's contribution). In addition to obtaining the overall views of women, Māori women and specific groups of women were asked to formulate a draft vision statement from their perspective.

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Government goals

Overall, women supported the government's goals for achieving sustainable development, which are to:

• strengthen national identity and uphold the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi
• develop an inclusive, innovative economy for the benefit of all
• maintain trust in the government and provide strong social services
• improve New Zealanders' skills
• reduce inequalities in health, education, employment and housing
• protect and enhance New Zealand's environment.

In relation to formulating a vision for New Zealand women, there was general agreement on the inclusion of the following aims:

• the development of a national identity and upholding Treaty of Waitangi principles
• an emphasis on eliminating rather than reducing disparities.

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Guiding policy principles - Ministry of Women's Affairs

In the context of the government's goals, the Ministry of Women's Affairs uses a number of principles to guide its work. These principles drew comment from women as detailed below:

Equity

• a gender equity approach assumes that women and men, and boys and girls, should, where possible, have similar access to resources and experience similar outcomes.

Contributors strongly supported the principles of equity. However, women also expressed significant levels of concern about the terms 'where possible' and 'similar', noting that equity should be aimed for at all times and in all circumstances. There was a strong call to have the term 'where possible' removed from the principle. It was also noted that the principle appeared to be attempting to 'bring women up to the level of men' rather than developing women to their full potential and celebrating their successes.

There was also some support for a greater degree of specificity, redefining the term equity as equality of opportunity and outcome. This is also consistent with the terminology used by the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

Opportunity and choice

• being able to choose a life path and having the opportunity to pursue it.

Contributors strongly supported the principles of opportunity and choice. Some contributors sought greater recognition of, and value attached to, the choices women make to raise children.

Full and active participation

• to ensure that all women are able to participate in society as they choose and are not limited or constrained by discrimination (either direct or indirect), lack of opportunity or lack of adequate support.

Contributors strongly supported the principle of full and active participation. It was noted that there needs to be a greater emphasis on removing barriers to women's full and active participation in society. It was also noted that people need to change their attitudes, as there is a perception that women raising children (rather than undertaking paid work) are not participating in society.

Adequate resources

• resources can include money, adequate time, education, health care, and support. All women should have adequate resources that are not linked to their dependency on another person.

Contributors overwhelmingly supported the principle of adequate resources. Additional comments were made around the theme of financial dependence. Some contributors noted that in modern society women and men are in partnership with each other. This was particularly the case when women raise children and their partners are responsible for earning income. In these cases, contributors rejected the implication that raising children made women 'dependent' on their partner. Other contributors supported addressing poverty and achieving financial independence for women.

No discrimination

• guaranteed through the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 and the Human Rights Act 1993. This incorporates both direct discrimination and discrimination through structures or systems. For some groups of women - Māori, Pacific and immigrant women, and women with disabilities for example - the discrimination can be twofold as they may experience discrimination both for being a woman and for their ethnicity or disability.

Contributors strongly supported the principle of no discrimination. Some stated that despite the statutory protection, discrimination occurs in relation to particular ethnic and/or other disadvantaged groups and in all sectors (for example in relation to employment status, pay equity and health care, where it was said that women's reproductive health appears to be the government's only female-specific health concern). Several contributors believed that anti-discrimination measures needed to be strengthened.

A society that values women's contribution

• value and recognition need to occur at individual, family/whānau, community and national levels. This needs to incorporate the contribution women make through unpaid work and voluntary work and the value of the paid work women also do.

Contributors overwhelmingly supported the principle of a society that values women's contribution. There were wide-ranging comments on this principle centred on valuing the important contribution of women raising families, including:

• women need to be valued for what they do, rather than being pressured to do something deemed more valuable
• women's contribution to raising families should be valued in economic and social terms
• women should have the freedom to make choices and should value the choices they make.

In summary

Women from all groups expressed support for inclusion of the following elements in a vision for New Zealand women:

• participating in all levels of society
• achieving equality
• being enabled to exercise choice about their life-path
• fulfilling their expectations and potential.

Māori women and women with different ethnic backgrounds, rural women, low-income women and women with disabilities expressed similar views, although they often focused on different aspects depending on the particular population group to which they belonged. The vision statements expressed by each specific group are provided later in this report.

Economic Sustainability

Economic sustainability refers to a woman's ability to independently provide for herself and her dependants. The wide range of income, employment and educational issues canvassed has been summarised for inclusion in this report. The report also includes suggested government and community solutions to issues and examples of successful initiatives operating within the communities of contributors. One hundred and sixty-seven contributors proposed strategies to address the issues associated with economic sustainability. Women aged 41-50 significantly influenced the overall outcome of the consultation process. This age group accounted for 77 per cent of the responses.

Issues

• achieving pay equity
• valuing women's unpaid work
• women's ability to choose between prioritising their involvement in the paid workforce and their family responsibilities
• addressing the inequities that arise for women as a result of prioritising family and community responsibilities over paid work
• providing support services to women in the paid workforce
• addressing the long-term impact of student loans on female students (in terms of future work patterns, the associated labour market inequity, and financial barriers to starting a family)
• the inadequacy of social welfare assistance, especially for sole parents, and the need to provide more realistic minimum income levels
• the need for women's working patterns to enable them to make private provision for retirement
• fostering women's participation in higher education and developing their skills
• providing resources to enable women's participation in enterprise.

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Economic circumstances

In considering the issues associated with economic sustainability, many contributors referred to women's economic circumstances. There was a significant level of concern that excessive numbers of women and children live in poverty with little hope of achieving economic independence and financial security. Contributors also referred to the inadequacy of social assistance provided to beneficiaries, with particular concern for those likely to remain long-term beneficiaries, including sole parents and women with disabilities. For these groups, achieving long-term financial security, including adequately providing for retirement, was not considered possible. It was also noted that perverse incentives exist within the social assistance regime, with benefit abatement rates providing a disincentive for beneficiaries to undertake paid work to supplement their benefit.

Contributors considered poverty a concern for families. Specifically, it was expressed that, in the absence of two incomes, many families would be living in poverty and that the economic demand for both parents to be in paid work placed excessive strain on overall family well-being.

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Education and skills

Contributors noted that fostering women's participation in higher education and skill development is critical to their future economic autonomy. Particular reference was made to a perceived tendency for women to be under-represented in post-graduate tertiary studies and in areas of study that lead to higher incomes such as engineering, medicine (excluding nursing), and some sciences. Contributors indicated a range of factors contributing to this, including:

• the relationship of occupations such as nursing and teaching with women's nurturing qualities
• traditional attitudes and expectations that influence women's and girls' occupational aspirations
• institutional barriers, such as the lack of female tertiary staff and students in, for example, engineering and science faculties.

There was also a significant body of opinion that training and skills development should be geared towards 'real training for real jobs'. Some contributors viewed government-funded training programmes as 'time fillers' rather than opportunities to train for work.

Many contributors stated that women acquire many skills through unpaid work, but these skills and experiences are not recognised or valued in the labour market.

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Student loans

Within the context of tertiary education, there were also high levels of concern about the long-term and inequitable impact of the Student Loan Scheme on women. Two key issues were:

• the effect on women's long-term financial position and security
• the effect on women's reproductive health.

In terms of financial position and security, several compounding factors were perceived to impact inequitably on women. Aligned with the tendency for women to pursue training for traditionally female-dominated occupations, and the associated lower level of income those occupations attract, contributors noted that women take relatively longer to repay student debt. This is when training for occupations such as nursing is for a similar or longer duration than training for male-dominated occupations. It is similarly exacerbated when the trainee meets the training costs for those occupations (such as nursing), but the future employer meets the training costs in some male-dominated occupations (such as policing).

Contributors also noted the impact of women's future working patterns on their debt repayment period. It was noted that women, in response to family and community responsibilities, tend to move more fluidly between paid and unpaid work. As a result of periods dedicated to unpaid work, women incur both greater levels of compounding interest and longer debt repayment terms. Alongside future pay inequity, these factors were considered to significantly affect women's ability to service student loans.

In the longer term, these effects were seen to disadvantage women in terms of their ability to accumulate reserves to purchase a home or make private provision for retirement. Students in particular noted that they were the only segment of the population that had to borrow to meet their basic physiological needs. There was a commonly held opinion that these financial impacts on female students were significant in their decision to delay childbirth until they were more financially secure.

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Pay equity

One of the most consistently expressed concerns regarding women's economic sustainability was with respect to pay equity. Contributors consistently stated that women have yet to achieve pay equity, and noted that this relates to: equal pay for work of equal value; like conditions between similar occupations typically filled by men and those typically filled by women; and equal opportunities in the workplace. Contributors supported the government's inclusion of pay equity on its current policy agenda.

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Workplace equality

There was a significant body of opinion that there is a need for greater efforts to achieve workplace equality for women. Several issues were raised within this context. The most common problem was the need to provide support for women who, by choice or from need, balance paid work with family and community responsibilities. Contributors noted that these women have particular needs that demand, for example, flexible working arrangements and access to affordable, quality childcare. Contributors raising these issues had mixed views as to whether this level of support should be driven by the government or individual employers.

A further set of issues associated with workplace equality centred around women's career progression. Contributors commented that the 'glass ceiling' continues to exist and is manifested in the under-representation of women in management and decision-making roles. This was seen to impact both on women aspiring to higher level positions, and on the wider female workforce, which is lacking in women managers to mentor other women, nurture their careers and bring women's perspectives and interests into the wider management decisions that define an organisation's working environment.

It was also noted that women are not afforded the same terms and conditions of employment as men. This was raised within the context of women being more likely than men to hold one (or more) part-time positions. There was a perception that part-time terms and conditions (especially pay rates, leave conditions, access to employer superannuation schemes and the impact of the secondary taxation regime on women holding multiple part-time positions) are not, even on a pro rata basis, as advantageous as full-time terms and conditions, so women are disproportionately disadvantaged.

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Casualised labour

There was a high level of concern about women, through economic need, being forced into casualised jobs. This concern was expressed most strongly by tertiary students, who noted that their extreme financial circumstances demanded participation in the casualised workforce and that this had consequential impacts on their ability to maintain and complete their studies.

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Women in business

Many contributors expressed a view that women possess inherent talents for enterprise, but their ability to enter into business is constrained by lack of access to business finance and other business services. There was a strong call for interventions that would encourage women to participate in the enterprise economy.

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Valuing women's contributions to families and communities

There was a strong emphasis on the importance of family values to the social fabric of the country. Contributors noted that women take principal responsibility for caring for families and make significant contributions to their wider communities. It was felt that it is women who ensure New Zealand's social sustainability. However, there was also a significant body of opinion that these contributions are under-recognised and under-valued. Contributors argued that the country's social sustainability is as important as its economy, and in many cases argued that women's contributions should not only be recognised and valued, but also rewarded.

Overall, contributors reflected that the choice of participating in the paid or the unpaid workforce should rest with individual women. However, economic necessity often precluded this choice. It was felt that women should be supported to allow them to make this choice, with access to adequate resources to enable them to prioritise family commitments, or access to adequate services to enable them to prioritise paid work commitments.

Government and community solutions

Partnerships to achieve community level economic development

There was a significant body of opinion that believed the government and communities needed to work more closely together to achieve sustainable economic development at the community level. Contributors proposed two key strategies: first, that the government recognise and resource partnership arrangements with non-government organisations and iwi or Māori groups; and secondly, that the government focuses its economic development efforts on community-level economic development. Within this context, contributors particularly noted the adverse community-level impact of some government decisions, for example factory closures as a result of a lack of tax incentives for off-shore companies to maintain New Zealand based operations.

Service delivery

Contributors consistently advocated for more appropriate and responsive service delivery across a range of government services. The key solutions proposed revolved around front-line service delivery. Contributors considered that front-line staff need to be better informed about client entitlements to the services they deliver (with particular references made to WINZ and StudyLink staff), and more sensitive and responsive in the delivery of services. As some discussions centred around the responsiveness of StudyLink and student loan disputes, contributors proposed a 'Student Ombudsperson' be established. There was also a call from Māori contributors for more emphasis on 'by Māori for Māori' service delivery.

Access to information

There was a strong view that women's economic circumstances would be enhanced by their improved access to information about economic opportunities and income related entitlements. Proposals included media campaigns, mentoring and business networking, and greater access to information from both the public and private sectors.

Taxation regime

Across a range of issues, contributors put forward proposals that would have implications for the taxation regime. These proposals were geared towards a more equitable distribution of wealth and included:

• no or very low taxation rates for very low-income earners
• higher marginal taxation rates for high-income earners
• incentives, including tax rebates or credits for unpaid work
• full tax deductibility for childcare costs
• reviewing the secondary taxation regime to provide for secondary tax to become applicable only after the first 40 hours of work per week (regardless of how many part-time jobs an individual held)
• scope to register relationships as partnerships for taxation purposes to enable income splitting between wage earning and non-wage earning partners.

Universal basic income

A universal basic income (UBI) was considered a means of providing a level of financial security to all New Zealanders. Given their financial circumstances women would disproportionately benefit from a UBI. Proposals ranged from supporting wide-ranging public debate to implementing a UBI.

Family benefits

There was a high level of support for the reintroduction of the Family Benefit, to be paid to the principal caregiver of qualifying children. Some contributors supporting the Family Benefit also recommended that it should be able to be capitalised for home deposit assistance.

Benefit regime

There were high levels of support for changes to the social assistance benefit regime. It was considered that beneficiaries, particularly long-term beneficiaries, are not able to maintain an adequate standard of living or achieve financial security. Specific proposals included:

• increasing benefit levels to reflect the cost of living
• improving processes to ensure beneficiaries' full access to benefit entitlements
• reviewing the benefit abatement rates so the benefit regime encourages rather than discourages participation in the part-time paid workforce
• removing benefit stand-down requirements and providing relocation assistance to support women leaving situations of domestic abuse.

Life skills training

Some contributors emphasised the link between women's economic and social circumstances. It was argued that mothers living in poverty may be ill equipped to provide their children with the necessary social skills to break the cycle of poverty, and that training in budgeting and money management, parenting skills and more general life skills should be provided through schools.

Matrimonial property

Some contributors considered women to be economically disadvantaged when matrimonial property is split between spouses terminating their relationship. These contributors proposed that children should be considered as a unit (or units) in the distribution of matrimonial property.

Education and skills

Central to the proposed solutions associated with education and skills was ensuring universal accessibility of education and skills development to all women. Contributors consistently advocated removing or reducing tertiary fees. There were also some calls for universal access to student allowances. Several contributors commented on the under-representation of women in some occupational groups, and recommended an increased emphasis on, and in some cases gender based quotas for, apprenticeship schemes. In addition, they suggested broadening the eligibility criteria for training incentive allowances.

Student loans

The Student Loan Scheme was widely commented on. In most cases, the central issue was that student loans create financial barriers to the accessibility of higher education and have long-term impacts on women's financial security.

Almost all contributors commenting on student loans advocated strategies to reduce student debt. Specific proposals included:

• removing student loans and returning to a fully funded higher education system
• bonding students to New Zealand based work for a specified period. In this context, contributors made repeated reference to the effect of student loans on graduates' decisions to leave New Zealand, and the subsequent impact on New Zealand's overall skills profile and economic growth
• recognising the different working patterns of women, which arise principally as a result of women responding to family responsibilities, by stopping interest accumulating on loans while women take time out of the paid workforce to bear and raise children.

Transition to the paid workforce

There was some support for more investment in supporting women's transition to the paid workforce. Specific proposals were associated with supported employment for women with disabilities and transition assistance for beneficiaries entering the paid workforce.

Pay equity

Pay equity was a high priority for contributors. Contributors noted, and appreciated, the return of pay equity to the policy agenda and existing equal pay legislation, but expressed significant concern that pay equity was still not being achieved. Specific proposals centred around:

• reviewing existing legislation, with specific attention to legislative compliance. Contributors considered compliance should be driven by the results of monitoring rather than by the court, as court-driven interventions were a costly and time-consuming means of achieving statutory rights
• the public sector demonstrating leadership in implementing pay equity and being subject to pay equity audits
• developing processes to establish pay relativity between the public and private sectors
• establishing a pay equity authority.

Workplace equality

Contributors put forward several proposals to address issues associated with workplace equality, including:

• promoting women's participation in emerging industry, particularly information and communications technology and biotechnology
• ensuring more effective representation of women in leadership and decision-making positions
• supporting the private sector to provide family-friendly workplaces, with a particular focus on flexible working arrangements and affordable, quality childcare
• providing services to enable women to choose to undertake paid work, with a particular focus on subsidised childcare
• extending paid parental leave to all women (particularly those who are self-employed), and extending the term to up to 12 months
• promoting and providing benefits to encourage access to employer savings schemes
• providing for the transferability of terms and conditions between employers
• protecting employment continuity and terms and conditions when services are contracted out, specifically work won under contestable contracts should (in some contributors' view) protect the employment of the existing workforce with successful tenderers being required to retain staff already servicing the contract
• promoting the unionisation of female-dominated occupations and multi-employer collective bargaining
• promoting a government review of casualised labour.

Women in business

Encouraging women's participation in the enterprise economy was seen as one means of achieving economic sustainability. Solutions proposed included:

• providing easier access to business finance
• encouraging business networking and mentoring.

Unpaid work

Solutions to unpaid work issues centred around recognising and rewarding, in economic terms, women's contribution as the custodians of society's social fabric. Proposals included:

• a carer's allowance, similar to the UBI, paid to principal caregivers not participating in the paid workforce
• establishing an economic value for unpaid family and community related work, and rewarding those who participate in this type of work through tax credits or a 'credit card', which would enable the value of unpaid work to be drawn down on through the social assistance regime. There was also some support for including the economic value of unpaid family and community related work in the National Accounts
• establishing a post-compulsory qualification that recognises the skills acquired in raising children and participating in community work
• provision of respite care for those caring for elderly people and people with disabilities
• requirements for (particularly non-government) organisations to record and value voluntary contributions to their operations, and report on the value of these contributions in their annual reports.

Successful initiatives

Contributors identified a wide range of existing and successful initiatives operating within their communities of interest.

Education and skills development initiatives

• scholarship programmes for young women, with particular reference to those offered by Zonta, Women's Centres, Altrusa and Business and Professional Women (BPW)
• career motivational talks at school
• free training and educational opportunities, ranging from free tuition at the Southland Institute of Technology and some courses at Te Whare Wānanga o Aotearoa, computer training at some community libraries and courses run through Women's Resource Centres
• educational initiatives responding to women's other responsibilities, including Christchurch Polytechnic (which offers classes from 9 am to 2 pm and has a crèche), student support services at Wintec, and Stepping Stones for Women (which is a free mobilised and personalised employment and training scheme)
• school-business networks, specifically the Franklin Research, Education Employment and Enterprise (FREE) which provides a network for bringing local schools and businesses together to promote research, education and training in the horticulture and tourism industries
• second chance education, including the New Horizons for Women Trust, the Eastern Institute of Technology in Taradale, He Huarahi Tamariki, and Teen Parent Education at Kaiapoi High School
• educational initiatives promoting cultural retention, including Kohanga Reo, Kura Kaupapa Māori, wānanga and the Diploma for Early Childhood Education (Pasifika)
• initiatives focused on parenting and wider social skills, including Plunket's Tots and Toddlers programme, Playcentre training, Family Start and Parents as First Teachers (PAFT).

Employment support initiatives

• supporting women and girls into and in employment, including Dress for Success, Out of School Care and Recreation (OSCAR) and paid parental leave
• promoting women into leadership positions.

Business initiatives

• initiatives celebrating women in business, including the Māori Women's Business Awards
• business networks and business mentoring initiatives, including those delivered by the Māori Women's Welfare League, Business New Zealand mentoring service, Otago Southland Employers Association, Angel Fund and MAF Sustainable Farming Fund (which has funded Women in Farming)
• business development agencies, including the Pacific Business Trust
• field days for farming women.

Personal development initiatives

• increase participation in initiatives that promote leadership, self-esteem and self-confidence, particularly YWCA courses.

Community initiatives

• church based groups providing regular activities and programmes for young people, including careers advice
• Supergrans, providing a range of opportunities for older women, including computer skills and budgeting advice
• community based training programmes run through Rural Education Activities Programmes (REAP)
• information dissemination on local opportunities, especially through community radio stations, newspapers and fono.

Financial advice initiatives

• initiatives promoting women's awareness of retirement savings, including work undertaken by the Office of the Retirement Commissioner, the Youth Enterprise Trust and Women in Super
• budgeting advice available through a range of providers.

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