Fawcett Society - Budget 2011 leaves women out in the cold

Budget 2011 leaves women out in the cold

A new report has warned that the 2011 Budget will do little to help those faring worst in the face of drastic public spending cuts and rising unemployment, and in fact risks widening gender inequality.

Key findings of ‘The Impact on Women of the Budget 2011’, a UK Women’s Budget Group report produced in partnership with the Fawcett Society include:

- The current economic strategy looks set to undermine gender equality in the labour market: if current trends continue, more women than men in the UK will be unemployed, for the first time since records began.

- The bonfire of regulations will remove the protections that women and men with caring responsibilities need in order to be able to work.

- The increase in the Personal Tax Allowance threshold will not touch the most vulnerable, and among those who will benefit, men will gain £140 million more than women.

- Without action to tackle entrenched gender inequality within the apprenticeship sector, where women earn on average 21 per cent less than men,  the Government’s flagship expansion in apprenticeships and training opportunities will not improve the employment opportunities young women face and do nothing for older women.

-  The businesses set to benefit most from new tax breaks and other incentives are typically owned and invested in by men while schemes to support women in business are scrapped.

Acting Chief Executive of the Fawcett Society, Anna Bird, said:

“Women are acting as shock absorbers for the cuts, bearing the brunt of job losses, reduced benefits and the rollback of public services like the NHS.  This latest budget was an opportunity to try and ease that burden, but the Chancellor’s plans do nothing to target new forms of enterprise and employment opportunities for those who need them most.

“It’s time for the government to admit there is a problem with “business as usual” and recognise that to grow, we need everyone to play their rightful part. Women play a valuable role in the economy, but we urgently need to close the gender pay gap – in the private sector this stands at 21 per cent – broaden women’s employment options, and provide more support to enable more women to start up businesses.”

Assessing the overall economic strategy, Professor Diane Elson, Chair of the UK Women’s Budget Group said:

“We call on the government to learn from the worsening indicators of employment and output, and to rethink its economic strategy, as it is rethinking its health service strategy.  Appropriate public expenditure can support the creation of decent jobs and greater progression toward economic prosperity and equality.”

Commenting on news that if current trends continue we will see more women unemployed than men, Anna said:

“Hot on the heels of the biggest cuts in peacetime history, this budget will further hamper women’s employment prospects.  Ripping up red tape might make a great sound bite, but it can all too easily mean scaling back on equality - the kinds of regulations under threat are often those that have enabled the huge increase in women entering and staying in the workforce over the past thirty years. 

“If current trends continue, we will see more women unemployed than men. Losing your job is devastating for you and your family, whether you are a woman or man. But the scale of job losses across the female workforce undermines women's overall financial autonomy and widens the gap in equality between women and men. For the first time, after decades of steady progress, we will be turning the clock back on women’s access to the jobs market.”

On the changes to the personal tax allowance, Professor Susan Himmelweit of the UK Women’s Budget Group said:

“Increasing the personal allowance will put a small amount of extra money in most people’s pockets. But WBG’s analysis has shown this change will make little if any difference to those who are finding it hardest to make ends meet. It will also have a far smaller impact than the loss in real incomes due to the rise in VAT introduced by the government earlier this year.

“First, the rising number of people who can’t find work won’t be affected at all – unemployment stands at more than 2 million.  It will also make no difference to the roughly 4 million people who already earn so little, they don’t pay tax. Of this last group, 73 per cent are women. But while these people won’t feel the benefits of this tax change, they will be the first in line to take the hit as public services are rolled back and benefits reduced.

“Of the next group earning between the old and new personal allowance level, 56% of whom are women, they will be taken out of paying income tax, but will gain less on average than higher earners. Men make up the majority of those who gain the full amount: our analysis found that, in total, £140 million pounds less will be given to women than men from this measure.

On the skewed impact of the extension in apprenticeships Acting Chief Executive of the Fawcett Society, Anna Bird, said:

“The Government has made much of its commitment to increasing the number of apprenticeships available –it’s been portrayed as the answer to rising tuition fees, increased youth unemployment and the skills gap. Whether or not it succeeds, we now know that it will do nothing to tackle the pay and opportunities gap for young women.

"Women earn on average almost a quarter less than men while on apprenticeships, and their placements are typically shorter. Without concerted action to ensure new opportunities in this field are taken up equally by women and men, ramping up the number of technical training opportunities will be of little use to hundreds of thousands of young women facing an uncertain future. It will also do nothing for the millions of older women hoping to return to employment after time spent caring for their children.”

And on the impact of tax reductions to support business, she said

 

“The kinds of businesses that will see their profits boosted from the tax breaks and other incentives in this budget – a reduction in corporation tax and changes to the Enterprise Investment Scheme for example - are typically owned and invested in by men. At the same time funding is being withdrawn from schemes that support women in setting up a business.

“We are shocked that the government happily admits to the skewed impact- stating that those who will benefit from the Enterprise Investment Scheme are largely ‘male, located in the South of England and have higher overall income levels.’

“We think it’s time to recognise that business as usual is failing women across the UK.”

Click on the link to the right hand side of this page to download the full report.

 

 

via fawcettsociety.org.uk