At the last general election, the largest percentage of women votes went to Labour. Why? Well, the group hardest hit by the governments cuts to funding are women; in fact, 86% of these cuts have had a direct negative impact specifically on women.
From the turning off of street lighting to the two child limit to benefits; from the ‘rape’ clause to the theft of pensions from 3.4 million women born in the 1950’s; from the cuts in domestic abuse services (which have now seen deaths from domestic abuse climb to a five year high with an estimated 200 women, and children being turned away from emergency refuge accommodation every day) to the huge rise in survival sex work, which the government itself admits is down to the roll out of Universal Credit, yet they have done nothing to stop this.
There has been a 74% increase in underemployment for women; ¾ of local council jobs are taken by women, and cuts to those jobs have affected them most. 92% of lone parents are female, and they have seen an 18% drop in their incomes and childcare costs rise, making working more hours unviable.
The UK has fallen to 26th in the world for its widening gender inequality gap, which is lower than poorer countries such as the Philippines; and there has been a threefold increase in women becoming homeless. Prof Danny Dorling from Oxford University, whose work includes research on inequality, said: “The pain has not been spread evenly and the pain to come will not be. Women suffer disproportionately from the way the cuts have been chosen. Other choices could have been made and still could be made.”
Is it any wonder that more women voted Labour than for any other party? Labour plans to extend current free childcare provision and lower the costs for those who pay; and they plan to stop the roll out of Universal Credit on day one in government. Labour will negate the pension impact on the 3.4 million WASPI women, scrap the bedroom tax and have an impact assessment done on every policy it brings in to ensure they do not impact unfairly on one gender.
With Labour’s long history of delivering on such things as equal pay, sexual discrimination, minimum wage, child benefit, sure start centres, maternity laws, parental leave – in fact every progressive piece of gender equality legislation has been delivered by Labour – women know that the Labour party has always had their back.
The issue of Brexit will eventually conclude but, however it is resolved, the issues that women up and down the country face, as they struggle with the havoc and pain Tory ‘Austerity’ has caused to them and their families, will not go away.
Labour can only stop this governmental abuse perpetrated across the board, but disproportionately affecting women most harshly, if women go out and vote for Labour at the next election. So please make sure you register to vote and help us improve things for the many, not the few.
(All stats are from verified government or official independent sources)
Sedgefield Labour
Women’s Forum
