Women’s equality in the UK – A health check

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Article 13 - Social and economic benefits
Women typically rely on benefits and tax credits more than men for a wide range of reasons
- because they have pregnancy and maternity needs, because they are more likely to be the
primary carers for the elderly, disabled and children (where they are far more likely to be lone
parents), because they are more likely to be victims of violence, and because of their relative
economic inequality and the feminisation of poverty (due to their lower earnings and assets).
In fact, on average, one-fifth of a women’s income in the UK is made up of welfare payments and
tax credits compared to one-tenth for men. Thus benefits make up twice as much of women’s
income than men’s. 1 It is crucial therefore that the Government - in line with its duties under
domestic equality law - conducts rigorous assessments on the impact of all proposed changes
to welfare on equality between women and men before any such changes are implemented,
in order that the full impact can be understood and steps taken to mitigate against adverse
impacts wherever possible.
Since 2010, a staggering £14.9bn worth of cuts per year have been made to welfare payments,
and analysis shows that 74% of these savings are being taken from women’s incomes. 2 These
cuts are resulting in far reaching, multiple and severe implications for women - many of which
have not been identified by the Government (as impact assessments have either been
insufficiently robust, or omitted completely).
Rising unemployment, falling wages and cuts to benefits are pushing many women from a
situation of being able to just about make ends meet into financial hardship and poverty. 3 Early
research and the reported experiences of women around the UK have demonstrated that the
recession and austerity are disproportionately impacting on women. Changes to welfare are
particularly affecting already vulnerable groups, such as BME women, single mothers, who make
up 92% of all single parents, and older women. 4
We are very concerned to note that none of these changes have been referred to in the
Government’s 7th Periodic Report. During the last UPR 5 there was a recommendation to provide
more resources for reforming the welfare system in order to make it better able to tackle
poverty and worklessness, and reduce negative impact on vulnerable groups. However, this
inequality has been compounded with each Budget since 2010. There are also over 1,200 public
bodies across the UK delivering important and essential public services but these are facing
severe cuts impacting on their ability to support the most vulnerable.
Recommendations:
• The Government must develop - in consultation with the voluntary sector -
mitigating actions to lessen identified impacts of the current welfare reform and
commit to undertaking full gender equality impact assessments of all welfare
changes announced
• The Treasury must adhere at all times to the requirements of domestic equality
1. The Fawcett Society (2006) Who Benefits?: A gender analysis of the UK benefits and tax credits system. Fawcett: London
2. Martinson, J. (2012) ‘Women paying the price for Osborne’s austerity package’, The Guardian, 30th March 2012 http://www.guardian.co.uk/
lifeandstyle/2012/mar/30/women-paying-price-osborne-austerity
3. Women’s Resource Centre (2012) Factsheet: Women and the cuts 2012 WRC: London http://thewomensresourcecentre.org.uk/wpcontent/uploads/women-and-the-cuts.pdf
4. Beckford, M. (2012), ‘Single-parent families reach two billion’. The Telegraph, 20th January 2012 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/
mother-tongue/9025234/Single-parent-families-reach-two-million.html
5. Ministry of Justice, Universal Periodic Review http://www.justice.gov.uk/human-rights/universal-periodic-review Accessed: 21/04/13
Women’s equality in the UK: CEDAW shadow report 2013 129