<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></head><body><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:24pt"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Benefit cuts are a feminist issue because:</span><br><div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 24pt;"><div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;"><div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><ul><li>Benefits on average make up one fifth of womens income compared to one tenth of mens.<br></li><li>Many more women than men are single parents <br></li><li>Many more women than men are carers of sick, elderly or disabled people (whose income and workload is affected not only by carers allowance but also by the disability benefits and social care the person they care for recieves).</li><li>The cuts and reforms to many benefits
therefore disproportionately affect women.</li><li>Women and men do not recieve equal pay: even when only full-time work is considered, the
median average pay for men is 10.2% higher than women.<br></li><li>Women are more likely to work part time than men - because they are more likely to have childcare or caring responsibilities. The part-time gender pay-gap, whether compared as an hourly rate or as weekly gross income is much larger than for full-time workers.</li><li>Women therefore recieve more income-related in-work benefits, such as housing benefit, tax credits, council tax benefit. They are therefore more affected than men by cuts to these benefits. A million more women claim Housing Benefit than men, and many of these will be lone parents.<br></li><li>Changing the benefits system will not change the gender disparity between caring roles.</li><li>Income-related benefits for single parents and carers and universal benefits such as child benefit were successfully fought for by feminists. They are a tiny bit of financial recognition for the caring role and what
was traditionally seen as "womens work" (and is still disproportionatly done by women) ie childcare, caring, housework. These benefits are now being cut.<br></li><li>Single parents will be forced onto Jobseekers Allowance to look for work when their child is 5. Punitive measures such as reducing housing benefits by 10% after 1 year on Jobseekers Allowance and sanctions still apply to parents!</li><li>Politicians - Labour, Tory, and LibDem - have called single parents and carers "workless" - as if they didn't do some of the toughest jobs there are.<br></li><li>Forcing single mothers into employment does not automatically liberate them - low paid work with bad conditions followed by a double shift of caring responsibilities and housework is not empowering. That is not to say that no mother find work empowering, useful, enjoyable, or financially rewarding, but many don't.<br></li><li>Every parent should be able to decide when or if
they work - children may need different amounts of attention at different times, and parents are the best judge as to what they can cope with and how much they find work useful, empowering, enjoyable, or financially rewarding.<br></li><li>Cuts to benefits, social care, and services, mean more work and stress for carers and parents - work and stress which will disproportionatly fall on women.<br></li><li>Cuts to tax credits could make it uneconomical for some partnered mothers who want to have jobs to continue to work.<br></li><li>Many of the illnesses that women are more likely to suffer from than men - such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, fibromalgia, and bipolar disorder - are "invisible disabilities" that forms and medicals for disability benefits and employment and support allowance are often not set up to deal with.</li><li>More women than men are employed in the public sector - and two thirds more women than men are expected to lose their jobs because
of the public spending cuts. There are therefore likely to be more women signing on soon.</li><li>Maternity Grants - which are being cut - only affect pregnant women.<br></li><li>These cuts and reforms to welfare and housing benefits will therefore lead to increased poverty, stress, homelessness, debt, and unpaid work to many women - especially those who are already in the greatest poverty.<br></li></ul><br><div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="CENTER"><strong><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font style="font-size: 22pt;" size="6"><b>Protest
and Picnic Against Benefit Cuts and Poverty Pimps</b></font></font></strong></p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="CENTER"><strong><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="5"><b>11am
Monday 24</b></font></font></strong><strong><sup><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="5"><b>th</b></font></font></sup></strong><strong><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="5"><b>
January 2011</b></font></font></strong></p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="CENTER"><strong><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="5"><b>at
A4e Newcastle (meet at Manors Metro)</b></font></font></strong></p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="CENTER"><br>
</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="CENTER"><strong><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font style="font-size: 16pt;" size="4"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Called
by Tyneside Claimants Union</span></font></font></strong></p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="CENTER"><strong><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="3"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://tynesideclaimantsunion.wordpress.com/">http://tynesideclaimantsunion.wordpress.com/</a></span></span></font></font></strong></p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="CENTER"><strong><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="3"><span style="font-weight: normal;">tynesideclaimantsunion@googlemail.com</span></font></font></strong></p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="CENTER"><strong><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="4"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Part
of the National Day of Protest Against Benefit Cuts </span></font></font></strong>
</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="CENTER"><strong><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://benefitclaimantsfightback.wordpress.com/"><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="3"><span style="font-weight: normal;">http://benefitclaimantsfightback.wordpress.com/</span></font></font></a></strong></p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="CENTER"><strong><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="3"><span style="font-weight: normal;">notowelfarecuts@yahoo.co.uk
</span></font></font></strong>
</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="CENTER"><br>
</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="CENTER"><strong><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font style="font-size: 16pt;" size="4"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Everyone
welcome, whether you are a benefit claimant yourself, or want to give
your solidarity: please tell your friends.</span></font></font></strong></p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="CENTER"><strong><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font style="font-size: 16pt;" size="4"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Bring:
banners and placards, music, drums and whistles, food to share, and
your ideas, enthusiasm and solidarity.</span></font></font></strong></p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="CENTER"><br>
</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="CENTER"><strong><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font style="font-size: 13pt;" size="3">We
say<br>NO<br>- TO CUTS TO WELFARE AND HOUSING BENEFITS</font></font></strong></p><p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="CENTER"><strong><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font style="font-size: 13pt;" size="3">-
TO COMPULSORY WORK FOR BENEFITS</font></font></strong></p><p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="CENTER"><strong><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font style="font-size: 13pt;" size="3">-
TO “THE WORK PROGRAMME”<br>- TO BENEFITS SANCTIONS<br>- TO
CASUALISATION AND ATTACKS ON WORKERS' RIGHTS<br>- TO POVERTY PIMPS
LIKE A4E AND WORKING LINKS <br></font></font></strong></p><p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="CENTER"><strong><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font style="font-size: 13pt;" size="3"><br></font></font></strong>
</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font style="font-size: 11pt;" size="2">After
a
certain amount of time signing on, unemployed people are forced to
attend private companies like A4e and Working Links as part of the
“New Deal”. This is supposed to help the unemployed find work,
but many unemployed people who have been forced to go to these
companies complain of a total lack of any useful courses, training or
facilities and denounce the disrespectful and bullying way these
companies treat unemployed people. The ConDems are replacing “New
Deal with “the Work Programme”, which will mean that more
benefits claimants (including disabled people in the
work-related-activity group of ESA, and single parents with children as
young as
5 (its now 7)) will be forced to attend these companies and more of
us will be made to work for our benefits (i.e. for as little as
£1.27 an hour). </font></font>
</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br>
</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="LEFT"><strong><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font style="font-size: 11pt;" size="2"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Benefit
Cuts and Poverty Pimps</b></span></font></font></strong></p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="LEFT"><strong><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font style="font-size: 11pt;" size="2"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
government wants to make massive cuts to the benefits system, for
example forcing many disabled people off Employment Support
Allowance/Incapacity Benefit, abolishing Education Maintenance
Allowance and making 20% cuts to Disability Living Allowance.
</span></span></font></font></strong><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font style="font-size: 11pt;" size="2"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">According
to the Chartered Institute of Housing, ¾ million people across the
UK will lose their homes as a result of the cuts to housing benefit
alone. We can't let them get away with this! </span></span></font></font>
</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="LEFT"><br>
</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="LEFT"><strong><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font style="font-size: 11pt;" size="2"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Emma
Harrison, the owner of A4E, lives very well off benefits. She has a
£40m fortune and a 100 acre country estate. Yet people forced to
attend A4e in Newcastle and Gateshead complain that there aren't
enough computers or even pens and that there is a culture of
disrespect and bullying in the company. Whilst m</span></span></font></font></strong><strong><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font style="font-size: 11pt;" size="2"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">illions
of people face a spiral into poverty, debt, stress, and
homelessness,</span></span></font></font></strong><strong><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font style="font-size: 11pt;" size="2"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
the gravy train is being extended for poverty pimps like A4e and
Working Links which seek to profit from the misery of others.</span></span></font></font></strong></p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="LEFT"><br>
</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT">
<font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font style="font-size: 13pt;" size="3"><strong><font color="#000000"><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font style="font-size: 11pt;" size="2">Don't
get fooled by divide and rule tactics</font></font></font></strong></font></font></p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT">
<font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font style="font-size: 13pt;" size="3"><strong><font color="#000000"><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font style="font-size: 11pt;" size="2"><span style="font-weight: normal;">People
who are unemployed for whatever reason, eith</span></font></font></font></strong><strong><font color="#000000"><font style="font-size: 11pt;" size="2"><span style="font-weight: normal;">er
through ill health, or the recession, or because they are caring for
a child or disabled person, are not scroungers, but human beings with
real needs for food, housing and health! </span></font></font></strong><strong><font style="font-size: 11pt;" size="2"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Only
1 in 10 housing benefit claimants is unemployed – most have low
paid jobs. Many people with jobs also rely on benefits like tax credits,
child benefit, and council tax benefit to make ends meet. Carers and
single parents do the toughest – unpaid – jobs there are! </span></font></strong></font></font>
</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;" align="LEFT">
<font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font style="font-size: 13pt;" size="3"><strong><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font style="font-size: 11pt;" size="2">The
“Work Programme” and the benefit cuts are not only an attack on the unemployed and other claimants, they are
an attack on workers in jobs. </font></font></strong><strong><font style="font-size: 11pt;" size="2"><b>Making
people work for their benefits won't reduce poverty or improve life
chances. But it will allow employers to bypass the minimum wage. </b></font></strong><strong><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font style="font-size: 11pt;" size="2"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></font></font></strong><strong><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font style="font-size: 11pt;" size="2">If
the government get their way the current 4 week compulsory work
placements will become much longer. We all have to organise to stop
workfare and benefit cuts.<br></font></font></strong></font></font></p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br>
</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="CENTER"><strong><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font style="font-size: 11pt;" size="2"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Let's
get together to take some real action to stop these injustices!</span></span></font></font></strong></p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="CENTER"><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font style="font-size: 11pt;" size="2">Come
along to this demonstration, contact Tyneside Claimants Union. </font></font>
</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;" align="CENTER"><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font style="font-size: 11pt;" size="2"><b>Isolated
we can be bullied but together we can turn the tables !</b></font></font></p>
</div>
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