Key terms used in the report The key terms used in this report are defined in Table 1. Table 1 Key terms Term Definition Contractor A contractor is engaged by a principal (the other party) to perform services under a contract for services. Contractors are self-employed and earn income by invoicing the principal for their services. They are sometimes referred to as self-employed contractors. Employee A person who is employed by an employer to do any work for hire or reward under a contract of services. Employer A person or organisation who controls and directs an employee under a contract of hire and who pays the worker’s salary or wages. Ethnic pay gap The difference in median hourly earnings between different ethnic populations. Gender pay gap The difference in median hourly earnings between women and men. At present, the data available only relates to men and women and does not include those who identify as gender non-binary or gender diverse. Intersectionality A way of understanding how aspects of a person’s social and political identities – like their gender and ethnicity – combine to create different experiences of discrimination and privilege. Institutional racism Also known as systemic racism or structural discrimination, it is a form of racism that is embedded in the laws, policies and practices of a society or an organisation. It includes discrimination in areas such as criminal justice, employment, housing, healthcare, education and political representation. Living wage The living wage is a concept developed by advocacy groups to respond to the growing poverty and inequality experienced by workers. Unlike the minimum wage, which does not always cover people’s living costs, the living wage is the hourly wage a worker needs to pay for the necessities of life and participate as an active citizen in the community. It reflects the basic expenses of workers and their families such as food, transportation, housing and childcare and is calculated independently each year by the New Zealand Family Centre Social Policy Unit. Pacific Pay Gap The difference in the median hourly earnings between Pacific men and women when compared to Pākehā men. Pacific peoples A collective term used to describe people from Polynesian, Melanesian and Micronesian countries residing in Aotearoa New Zealand. While there are commonalities between them, Pacific peoples are diverse. While other organisations and communities use the term ‘Pasifika’ or ‘Pasefika’, the Human Rights Commission uses the ‘Pacific peoples’ instead. Pacific worker A worker who identifies as being of Pacific heritage. It includes workers who were born in the Pacific Islands and those who were born in Aotearoa New Zealand. Pākehā The term ‘Pākehā’ is used in this report to refer to those categorised as ‘European’ in Stats NZ data. This category includes those who identify with a European ethnicity (such as New Zealand European, English, Dutch etc.) with or without other ethnicities. We have chosen to use te reo Māori term ‘Pākehā’ due to its grounding here in Aotearoa New Zealand. Pay equity Equal pay for work of equal or comparable value. It can refer to equity between genders and between ethnic groups as well as other groups. Pay gap The difference between the median hourly pay of different groups of people. Making information about what people are paid publicly available so workers can compare what Pay transparency they are paid with what others earn. It can also involve making pay scales publicly available in job advertisements. 16 Private sector The part of the economy not run by the government (which is the public sector) but by individuals and organisations to make money (profit). Worker For the purposes of this report, we have used the term ‘worker’ to refer to all people who work for a living and are not an employer. This includes employees and self-employed contractors.