August 26, 2020
Shovel ready relief overlooks wahine
The Māori Women’s Welfare League is concerned women and especially wāhine Māori are being left out of COVID recovery spending.
Statistics New Zealand’s June quarter labour market survey found 11,000 people people had lost their jobs, 10,000 of them women.
League president Prue Kapua says the response so far has been to bring forward so called shovel ready projects with jobs traditionally done by males.
She says women are more involved in areas like tourism, hospitality and retail which have been hardest hit by the COVID slowdown.
"A lot of our women have taken a lot on their plates in recent years to build up businesses, they are ususally small businesses, and we are the ones who are being hardest hit, and unless there is going to be specific provision made, this position we are in is going to continue for a long time," Ms Kapua says.
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