Source: NZCTU
The 2025 “Work for Free” calendar shines a harsh light on pay inequity for women and marginalised communities across Aotearoa. Each year, these dates symbolise when women and many ethnic groups effectively stop being paid compared to Pākehā men, reflecting how pay gaps strip weeks of income from families nationwide.
“That women are effectively working for free exposes the reality of systemic inequality and the cost of the National-led Government’s attacks on working women,” said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Secretary Melissa Ansell-Bridges.
“This data shows that pay inequities have a profoundly disproportionate impact on Pacific, Māori, and ethnic minority communities. Men in those communities are also not spared the injustice of unequal pay.
“The Government is perpetuating the cost-of-living crisis by scrapping one of the most powerful tools to close pay gaps – pay equity. We need leaders who will fight to close gender and ethnic pay gaps, not make them even worse,” said Ansell-Bridges.
Pacific women have “worked for free” since the 9th of October, with Pacific men, Māori women, Asian women, and other ethnic groups following. By 30 November, all women in Aotearoa will have reached their “work for free” day.
“Pacific women are not looking for favours or saviours in the workplace, they’re looking for what is theirs lawfully – equity, equal opportunity, fair remuneration, meaningful remedy for wrongs intentionally or unintentionally done to them, and respect for dignity,” said Pacific advocate Saunoamali’i Dr Karanina Sumeo.
“Women deserve to be paid 100% of what they’re worth. Closing these gaping disparities is about ensuring fair treatment and equal opportunity for all. It’s about restoring respect, dignity, and mana for the Pacific, Māori, Asian, and ethnic women who tirelessly keep our communities running,” said YWCA Tāmaki Makaurau spokesperson Teresa Lee.
“Imagine if all MPs were told that they were working for the whole of December for free. It is a stain on New Zealand’s human rights record that women’s work is devalued, that female economic security has been denied by the Coalition Government and that thousands of Māori, Pacific and ethnic minority women in critical roles in our communities continue to receive poverty wages,” said Pay Equity Coalition Aotearoa spokeswoman Dame Judy McGregor.
2025 Work for Free dates:
- Pacific women: from 9 October
- Pacific men: from 15 October
- Māori women: from 18 October
- Asian women: from 25 October
- Māori men: from 3 November
- Pākehā women: from 25 November
- Middle Eastern, Latin American, and African women: from 30 November
Note: These dates are based off the mean wage gap. Stats NZ often uses median figures, but the mean wage gap gives the clearest picture of inequality. It reflects the full diversity of women’s work. It captures the influence of low-paid and high-paid workers, with European men overrepresented in higher-paying roles, and ethnic women concentrated in lower-paying sectors and part-time work.
