Even if you missed the Google Doodle, it probably didn’t escape your attention that it was Women’s International Day on March 8 (sadly and ironically, for comedian Jenny Collier the occasion was marked by being bumped from a show because there were “too many women on the bill”).

In that spirit PwC has released its Women in Work index, in which New Zealand has held onto its fourth place ranking out of the  sample of 27 OECD countries. 

 Norway is still at the top as it has been since the survey’s inception, followed by Denmark, Sweden, New Zealand and Finland (in fact, the top seven spots have all remained static).

The Netherlands and Ireland have been the most notable risers since last year, both moving up five positions due in particular to narrower gender wage gaps.

Chew over a few of the New Zealand stats below:

New Zealand’s gender wage gap has narrowed slightly from 2010 – it’s now at 4.22 percent

New Zealand has a relatively low rate of full-time female employment due to high rates of part-time work, at 65 percent.

Female unemployment in New Zealand has held fairly steady at 6.94 percent.

Boardroom representation has improved negligibly across the OECD (about 1 percentage point since 2011), including New Zealand.

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