3.2 Social inequity 3.3 Intersectionality The Pacific Pay Gap both contributes to, and is symptomatic of, the prevalence of social inequity in Aotearoa New Zealand. Social inequity can be defined as a disparity in income, social mobility and overall opportunities for particular social groups.67 These inequities are also affected by the different aspects of identity such as age, ethnicity, gender, religion or sexuality. Not only do these identities operate independently, they can also intersect and impact on individual or community positions of power and privilege, or lack of, within society.68 Within the body of literature surveyed for this review, there is a stark absence of acknowledgement of intersectional identities in the Pacific experiences within the workforce. Intersectionality is defined as the process of multiple identities overlapping to discriminate further or marginalise an individual or group of people.74 This term was initially coined to describe black women’s experience and discrimination, emphasising that the double axis of being an ethnic minority and female creates interactions of discrimination that are enhanced compared to being only an ethnic minority or a female.75 Intersectionality encompasses the characteristics of race, class, gender, sexuality and beyond to illustrate the nuanced interactions of discrimination and violence against different groups of people. Failing to account for intersectional analysis in research introduces the danger of homogenising the experience of discrimination, when in reality there are different encounters that vary depending on overlapping characteristics or the absence of some. While there is a well-recorded debate about the heterogeneous nature of Pacific communities, there is little in relation to how these other intersecting Pacific identities experience the Pacific Pay Gap. The differences highlighted in this section serve as an example of why it is essential to consider different groups of Pacific peoples in research, including migrant or New Zealand born, as well as Pacific peoples who are unemployed or underemployed, work uncertain hours, have insecure The Pacific Pay Gap reflects an increasing gap in income between the wealthiest and the poorest in Aotearoa New Zealand society, a gap that is growing larger over the years.69 New Zealand citizens who sit in the top 1 percent of New Zealand income rates own 18 percent of the country’s wealth overall, while those who sit in the bottom half of income rates account for only 4 percent altogether.70 Nearly threequarters of the Pacific population in New Zealand live in lower-socioeconomic areas with lower-decile schools, inadequate healthcare facilities and an overall lack of communal structures that promote positive social cohesion.71 Of the approximately 200,000 children who live below the New Zealand poverty line, one in four is Pacific.72 As Mila argues, these conditions disadvantage Pacific peoples by creating a “social distance between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ … [rendering] some parts of society an unwelcome burden”.73 14 67 Rashbrooke, Max. “Why Inequality Matters.” In Inequality: A New Zealand Crisis, edited by Max Rashbrooke. Wellington: Bridget Williams Books, 2015, 8. 68 Weber, Max. “The Distribution of Power Within the Community: Classes, Stände, Parties.” Journal of Classical Sociology 10, no. 2 (2010): 148-149. 69 Rashbrooke, Max. “Inequality and New Zealand.” In Inequality: A New Zealand Crisis, edited By Max Rashbrooke. Wellington: Bridget Williams Books, 2015, 42. 70 Rashbrooke, Max, Geoff Rashbrooke, and Wilma Molano. Wealth Disparities in New Zealand: Final Report. Wellington: Institute for Governance and Policy Studies, 2017, 8. https://www.victoria.ac.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/1175246/WP17-02Wealth-Disparities-in-NZ-Final-2017.pdf. https://www.victoria.ac.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/1175246/WP17-02-WealthDisparities-in-NZ-Final-2017.pdf. 71 White, Paul, et al. Atlas of Socioeconomic Deprivation in New Zealand NZDep2006. Wellington: Ministry of Health, 2008, 22. 72 Henare, Manuka, Adrienne Puckey, and Amber Nicholson. He Ara Hou: The Pathway Forward. Getting it Right for Aotearoa New Zealand’s Māori and Pasifika Children. Auckland: Every Child Counts, 2011, 27. http://www.ririki.org.nz/wp-content/ uploads/2015/04/He-Ara-Hou-Report-20112.pdf. 73 Mila, “Only One Deck,” 100. 74 Crenshaw, Kimberle. “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Colour.” Stanford Law Review 43, no. 6 (July 1991): 1244. 75 Crenshaw, Kimberle. “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics.” 1989 University of Chicago Legal Forum 1 (1989): 145.