May 24, 2024
Future bright for wāhine Māori
The lead author of a report on the contribution of Māori women to the economy says young Māori women are poised to be the workforce of the future.
Urvashi Yadav from Business and Economic Research Limited or BERL says Te Ōhanga Wāhine Māori was written for the Ministry for Women’s Affairs in response to a gap in the data for Indigenous women internationally, which makes it hard to advocate for change.
It put the value of Māori women’s work to GDP at $6 billion, which doubles when unpaid and voluntary work is accounted for.
While tāne Māori are concentrated in construction and manufacturing, wāhine Māori are more likely to work in services.
“Health, education, administrative services, and also there’s a lot of scope for wāhine Māori ahead to benefit from high value sectors in the services as well so that’s things like technology AI and the new revolutions upcoming, There’s a lot of scope there because we know wāhine Māori are young – they are well poised to be the workforce of the future,” Ms Yadav says.