Taking an intersectional approach to the gender and ethnic pay gaps solely on ethnic pay gaps means the experience of Pacific women could be overlooked. It was important for our Inquiry to not only understand the ethnic pay gap for Pacific peoples but also how it intersects with the pay gap between men and women. While there are some similarities in the employment experiences of Pacific men and women, there are also some differences. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) recognised this difference. In its 2018 recommendation, CEDAW said Aotearoa New Zealand should examine and address the discrimination that Pacific women experience through employment and the legal system.33 This recommendation recognises that various dimensions of inequality operate together and may even exacerbate each other. Focusing Likewise, if pay gaps are examined solely through the lens of gender, the different experience of discrimination that Pacific women experience compared to European women is not as evident. For the purposes of the Inquiry, we have therefore taken an intersectional approach to gender and ethnicity. Table 4 illustrates the gender-ethnic pay gaps for all ethnic groups in Aotearoa New Zealand. It uses median hourly earnings from the main job each year by ethnicity and gender compared to European men for 2021. Table 4 Percentage (%) gender ethnic pay gap in median hourly earnings from main wage compared to European men Year 2021 Men Women European Māori Pacific peoples Asian MELAA European Māori Pacific peoples Asian MELAA ref 14.2% 18.8% 13.8% -0.3% 11.2% 18.9% 25.1% 17.1% 12.2% Source: Household Labour Force Survey data from Stats NZ. Note: All percentages are compared to the reference group – European. MELAA statistics should be interpreted with caution. Disaggregating pay gaps by ethnicity and gender teases out the differential experience of pay gaps of men and women of different ethnicities. This data set reveals that all women in Aotearoa New Zealand earn less than their male counterparts of the same ethnicity. However, European women earn more than Māori, Asian, MELAA and Pacific men. These differences are even more pronounced when we observe average weekly rather than hourly earnings from main job by ethnicity and gender (see Table 5). For women of all ethnicities, the pay gap in average weekly earnings from their main job significantly increases when compared to average hourly earnings. This data also reveals stark differences in income for Pacific men and women. Among men, Pacific men face the largest pay gap in comparison to European men (18.8 percent). Looking across both genders, Pacific women fare even worse – the pay gap between Pacific women and European men is 25.1 percent (see Table 4). As before, this gap is largest for Pacific women, who experience 34.9 percent fewer weekly earnings from their main job compared to European men. The most likely driver of this difference is the larger share of women engaging in part-time work and/or childcare. This is supported by higher underutilisation rates for women when compared to men, with these differences being most acute for Pacific women. 33 Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. Concluding Observations on the Eighth Periodic Report of New Zealand. CEDAW/C/NZL/CO/8. July 25, 2018. https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/concluding-observations/cedawcnzlco8concluding-observations-eighth-periodic-report-new. Voices of Pacific peoples 33