commitment to crack down on migrant exploitation, commentators consider this to be the tip of the iceberg and more needs to be done.27 28. The Government has also committed to updating the Plan of Action to Prevent People Trafficking28 - which has not been updated since 2009. The date for completing this action has now been extended to 31 December 2018. EMPLOYMENT – ARTICLE 11 LABOUR MARKET PARTICIPATION 29. Female labour force participation is the highest it has ever been in New Zealand. Since 1986 the female labour force has increased by more than 50%. In 2016 the female labour force participation rate was 64.6% compared with 75.2% for men.29 30. Unemployment rates of Pacific peoples are disproportionately high – 11.1% in 2016 compared to the national rate of 5.7%.30 The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment has reported that this disparity is in part due to the Pacific labour force being concentrated in manufacturing and laboring which is experiencing a decline.31 31. The Commission’s Tracking Equality at Work Tool has identified that:32 ➢ Between the ages of 25 and 44, the unemployment rate for Pacific peoples is three times that of European rates ➢ One in three Pacific women under the age of 25 are unemployed ➢ Pacific women are paid at a lower rate than European women 32. Overall labour market outcomes for Māori declined over the year to March 2016:33 ➢ The participation rate decreased to 66%, down 0.6 % ➢ Unemployment rose 0.1 % to 12.2% ➢ The number of Māori young people who are not in employment, education or training rose from 19.7% to 21.1% 27 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11711211, http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/mike-hosking-breakfast/audio/richard-small-trafficking-conviction-tip-ofthe-iceberg/ 28 New Zealand’s National Plan of Action for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights, Actions related to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment”, Action 20: Revise the New Zealand Plan of Action to Prevent People Trafficking once the Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Legislation Bill is passed. http://npa.hrc.co.nz/#/agency/mbie 29 http://women.govt.nz/work-skills/paid-and-unpaid-work/labour-force-participation 30 http://www.mbie.govt.nz/about/whats-happening/news/2016/latest-labour-market-factsheets-for-Māoriand-pacific-peoples-released-may-2016 31 Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, MBIE’s Pacific economic strategy 2015-2021, p.6. 32 http://tracking-equality.hrc.co.nz/#/ 33 Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, Māori in the Labour Market – March 2016 Year, http://www.mbie.govt.nz/info-services/employment-skills/labour-market-reports/Māori-labourmarket/Māori-in-the-labour-market/Māori-mar-2016/document-image-library/dashboard-Māori-dec2015.pdf 7