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| By Vicki Iglikowski |
An early comment remarking that it was a shame attendance had been affected by the student protests seemed to illustrate how disconnected from the wider anti-cuts movement the event was – was it not rather incredibly relevant?! It did however mean Diane Abbott was unable to attend; it would have been interesting to hear a politician’s perspective on the gender imbalance, despite the certainty of bland rhetoric. Indeed this events strength was also its weakness, lacking radicalism it instead tried to mainstream the issues and move from the standard ground of preaching to the already converted.
Despite the Fawcett Societies complete avoidance of political bias their strength is their factual analysis of the lack of economic necessity and blatant misogynistic bias of the cuts targets.
When analysing the gender impact of the cuts it is necessary to first investigate the pre-existing disadvantages faced by women, the 17.5% pay gap, the 22% minority of MP’s in parliament and lower figures around the judiciary, the pensions bias that means women will on average retire on 2/3 of what men will have, and the general patriarchal system they are part of.
Anna Bird, Fawcett’s Acting Chief Executive, added weight to previous arguments describing a concept of ‘triple jeopardy’ faced by women, which took the form of three points:
1. Women will be hit hardest by job cuts in the public sector
2. Women will be hit hardest as the services and benefits they use more are cut
3. Women will be left ‘filling the gaps’ as state services are withdrawn
As we are already aware public sector cuts fall on women particularly harshly; as an employer and a receiver of services. It is the biggest female employer in the labour sector and its employees are disproportionately women, often providing services which themselves support the community. The public sector pay gap is 10%, while in the private sector it is 20%, cuts threaten the public sector progress in women’s wage discrepancy. As more men take part time work, women are expected to be pushed out of this work which suits childrearing more. The public sector should be invested in and jobs created, it is the purpose of the government to ride the wave of the ‘recession’. Female unemployment is its highest for 23 years, and if women are able to find work it is the cost of childcare that is once again driving women away from the possibility of choice, indeed ¼ of lone mothers have had to give up work due to the cuts in childcare support already.
Cuts have meant:
• Women will be hit hardest as the services and benefits they use more are cut, 1/5 of women’s income comes from state support compared to 1/10 of men’s.
• The Health and Pregnancy Grant has been entirely removed.
• The abolition of the successful National Women's Commission in favor of an organization focused on equality amongst high earning women.
As such women will have to fill the gaps, as careers, mothers or single parents. As well as taking local volunteer positions in David Cameron’s ‘Big Society’ to provide vital services such as Domestic Violence and Rape Crisis Centres.
Due to Abbots absence London Metropolitan University lecturer Dr Lenna Kumarappan gave a talk on ethnic minorities and working advice, which provided a case study for an area the cuts effect. Studying Ealing, Southall and Lambeth, she noted that of 64 centres providing working advice had been already to reduced to 56, mainly situated in London, and the much less specialised Citizens Advice Centres were also facing similar reductions. Many such centres also opened within working hours and lacked the campaigning strengths once so prevalent. A debate on the floor was then chaired by Sarah Veale CBE, TUC Head of Equality and Employment Rights , which encouraged audience questions and discussion. This raised the need to critique Fawcett’s own legal challenge which attempted to force a gender assessment of the Budget. This interaction on the issue of women and the cuts was impressive to witness.
For an event for which I had low expectations it provided me with an up to date fact sheet, as Fawcett always does, to refer back to and counter our attackers, however the biggest perk of the evening was certainly Diane Abbots absence allowing me a free ticket to a far more interesting event of Gertrude Tuckwell, an late 19th century union leader!
Vicky Iglikowski
Despite the Fawcett Societies complete avoidance of political bias their strength is their factual analysis of the lack of economic necessity and blatant misogynistic bias of the cuts targets.
When analysing the gender impact of the cuts it is necessary to first investigate the pre-existing disadvantages faced by women, the 17.5% pay gap, the 22% minority of MP’s in parliament and lower figures around the judiciary, the pensions bias that means women will on average retire on 2/3 of what men will have, and the general patriarchal system they are part of.
Anna Bird, Fawcett’s Acting Chief Executive, added weight to previous arguments describing a concept of ‘triple jeopardy’ faced by women, which took the form of three points:
1. Women will be hit hardest by job cuts in the public sector
2. Women will be hit hardest as the services and benefits they use more are cut
3. Women will be left ‘filling the gaps’ as state services are withdrawn
As we are already aware public sector cuts fall on women particularly harshly; as an employer and a receiver of services. It is the biggest female employer in the labour sector and its employees are disproportionately women, often providing services which themselves support the community. The public sector pay gap is 10%, while in the private sector it is 20%, cuts threaten the public sector progress in women’s wage discrepancy. As more men take part time work, women are expected to be pushed out of this work which suits childrearing more. The public sector should be invested in and jobs created, it is the purpose of the government to ride the wave of the ‘recession’. Female unemployment is its highest for 23 years, and if women are able to find work it is the cost of childcare that is once again driving women away from the possibility of choice, indeed ¼ of lone mothers have had to give up work due to the cuts in childcare support already.
Cuts have meant:
• Women will be hit hardest as the services and benefits they use more are cut, 1/5 of women’s income comes from state support compared to 1/10 of men’s.
• The Health and Pregnancy Grant has been entirely removed.
• The abolition of the successful National Women's Commission in favor of an organization focused on equality amongst high earning women.
As such women will have to fill the gaps, as careers, mothers or single parents. As well as taking local volunteer positions in David Cameron’s ‘Big Society’ to provide vital services such as Domestic Violence and Rape Crisis Centres.
Due to Abbots absence London Metropolitan University lecturer Dr Lenna Kumarappan gave a talk on ethnic minorities and working advice, which provided a case study for an area the cuts effect. Studying Ealing, Southall and Lambeth, she noted that of 64 centres providing working advice had been already to reduced to 56, mainly situated in London, and the much less specialised Citizens Advice Centres were also facing similar reductions. Many such centres also opened within working hours and lacked the campaigning strengths once so prevalent. A debate on the floor was then chaired by Sarah Veale CBE, TUC Head of Equality and Employment Rights , which encouraged audience questions and discussion. This raised the need to critique Fawcett’s own legal challenge which attempted to force a gender assessment of the Budget. This interaction on the issue of women and the cuts was impressive to witness.
For an event for which I had low expectations it provided me with an up to date fact sheet, as Fawcett always does, to refer back to and counter our attackers, however the biggest perk of the evening was certainly Diane Abbots absence allowing me a free ticket to a far more interesting event of Gertrude Tuckwell, an late 19th century union leader!
Vicky Iglikowski
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