[Radical_childcare] [Fwd Women Join the Fight Against the Cuts - today at 5pm!]

[butterflea at riseup.net]

http://womenagainstthecuts.wordpress.com/

Women will take to the streets today, Tuesday 30th November, outside the
Treasury, 5 - 7pm. Women from diverse backgrounds and organisations will
voice their protest against the Government's cuts to public expenditure
and welfare reform.
Chris Oliver, from Women Against the Cuts, says,

  "When we heard about the extent of the cuts and the devastating effect
that they would have on women in particular, we felt compelled to do
something. The students have set a precedent and now it's our turn, as
women, to stand up and be counted. Women have a long history of peaceful
protest - from the suffragettes to the women of Greenham Common and the
women who abseiled into the House of Lords in protest at Section 28. Now
it's time to take action again. These cuts threaten to roll back the
progress made by women over the past fifty years and blight the hopes
and aspirations of a younger generation of girls and young women. We
will work together to fight back in our community groups, in our unions,
in our workplaces, in our stay and plays, and everywhere we gather."

Women have taken a disproportionate hit from the measures announced in the
June Budget and Comprehensive Spending Review. These measures will set
women back a generation. Already, research by organisations like the
Fawcett Society, Women's Budget Group and the House of Commons Library
have demonstrated how women will bear the brunt of the cuts:

  1.. Cuts to jobs - two-thirds of public sector workers are women, with
women accounting for 73% of the local government workforce and 77% of
the NHS workforce. Women will be forced out of the labour market in
larger numbers than men and expected to take on the care of loved ones -
children, elderly relatives, partners. Part-time and hourly paid jobs in
which women are over-represented are also likely to be the first to go.
40% of ethnic minority women live in poverty and this figure is likely
to rise as unemployment increases.
  2.. Cuts in social services and benefits - women rely on benefits twice
as much as men do. For example, cuts in Child Tax Credits, Working Tax
Credits, Child Benefit, Housing Benefit and linking pensions to the
Consumer Price Index rather than the Retail Price Index will
disproportionately affect women. The two most vulnerable groups have
been identified as lone parents, 90% of whom are women, and women single
pensioners. The quality of care services for all elderly people in this
country is a national scandal but because women tend to live longer than
men and women's pensions are on average 60% less to that of men's, older
women are particularly vulnerable to cuts in care services.
  3.. Cuts are being introduced on the assumption that women will fill the
gaps, undertaking more unpaid care work in the family. Already women do
4 hours of unpaid work per day - twice that of men. These cuts will mean
that women will continue to foot the bill and now to an even greater
extent, when already they are more often than not the shock absorbers to
poverty. As a result, the level of domestic violence is set to rise when
households feel the squeeze and struggle financially while funding for
women's refuges and legal aid is being cut.
WAC believe that these cuts are unfair and unnecessary:

  a.. The annual deficit is £70bn but the 1000 wealthiest individuals
gained £77bn in one year
  b.. £120 bn of tax goes uncollected, avoided or evaded by the rich
  c.. Cuts to jobs in the Inland Revenue mean that less tax is collected
and those who evade or avoid tax are less likely to be identified
-------------

Contact details:
Chris Oliver, Women Against the Cuts
07582 288913
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.aktivix.org/pipermail/radical_childcare/attachments/20101130/4cbb8502/attachment.htm>