Womenomics

Just 1 per cent of the world's people own 65 times the assets of the poorest 3.5 billion people (BusinessDay, January 22).  This statistic has been quoted ad nauseum of late.

Without a concerted effort to tackle inequality, the cascade of privilege and disadvantage will continue down the generations, and equality of opportunity will be just a dream. However, this trend can be reversed quickly. There are clear examples of success. The US and Europe in the three decades after World War II reduced inequality while growing prosperous. Ghana's recent Petroleum Revenue Management Bill shows how targeted regulation can promote shared prosperity. Latin America has significantly reduced inequality in the past decade through progressive taxation, public services, social protection and decent work. Central to this progress have been popular politics that represent the majority, instead of being captured by a small minority.
These are issues for us in New Zealand, as well as for developing countries.

For example, New Zealand is lagging behind on wage equality, and international wage survey shows. A survey of 4350 people in four Asia-Pacific countries showed New Zealand had the widest pay discrepancy between men and women across company size and experience. Kiwi males earned 44 percent more than women in small businesses, 23 per cent more in medium-sized businesses and 18 percent more in corporates, the survey by human resources company Font showed. New Zealand men received larger bonuses than their female counterparts. The survey compared salaries based on company size, years of experience, gender and qualifications across the advertising, marketing, creative and multimedia sectors in New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. Female graduates earned almost $5000 more than men. Kiwi males went on to surpass women by 19 per cent at five years' experience and by 18 per cent at 10 years.

It is my view that addressing wealth inequality needs to start also with addressing income disparity and encouraging education. I would be interested to the gender balance of the 1% who own the wealth. Given property ownership for women is relatively recent (in historical terms) I am willing to bet we won't be well represented.

Sources: Fairfax Media