“The persistent gender pay gap, particularly in relation to indigenous women, shows we don't value motherhood”

Stuff.co.nz Opinion Article | Author: Te Aroha Grace | Jul,24 - 2022

“How much do we value mothers?

Te Aroha Grace (Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei) is a judge of the NZ Women of Influence Awards, is the chief relationship officer at Figure Group, and is formerly Innovation officer at Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei.

OPINION: In te ao Māori we keep our ancestors close. But lately I’ve been reflecting on what my diverse ancestors must be thinking of the position of mothers nowadays.

I’ve been reminded again how vulnerable indigenous women are through some statistics that were presented to me about the pay gap and the fact that we are penalising women for what I believe is their superpower – the ability to have children.

Let’s think about the position of the mother in the home. If we were to wonder what motherhood does for human conscience and capacity building - how much would we value that role? And as an additional salient question, how much would we pay to do that job?