International Women’s Day

Today is a celebration of women throughout the world. In New Zealand, there have been a number of small celebrations such as a picnic, dancing, a march and a lunch.

It is a time to remember those who worked so hard to get the vote for women in 1893, especially Kate Sheppard. Her picture is on the $10 note. New Zealand was the first country in the world to give women the vote.

While we have many women in Parliament today, New Zealand is slow to give women positions of leadership. Less than 15% of the top 100 companies have a woman in the top position. There are many other areas of work where it’s hard to find a woman as a leader.

A recent Westpac on-line survey of 1100 women of all ages, showed that 43% of women wanted financial independence. 74% said that they felt confident to manage their own finances. Only 14% said they wanted their own home.

90% said they wanted a career. Most of these were looking at a career in Health, Education or Business. A very small number – 12% – thought they would like to be a CEO or boss but 40% wanted a position in middle management.

When asked if they thought they were better off than their mother had been at the same age, 75% said “Yes”.

Vocabulary

• middle management – boss of a small team in a bigger company
• better off – comparative of ‘well off’ – to be well off is to have enough money, a house and other things that most people want.

Questions

• Do you think 75% of men would say they are better off today than their father had been at the same age?
• Are any of these statistics surprising? Would they be similar in your country?