Women’s equality in the UK – A health check

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of the household could create or exacerbate an imbalance of power within a family or
relationship dynamic. 34
The Reform Act focuses on improving incentives for first earners (more likely to be men) rather
than for second earners (more likely to be women). There have also been significant cuts to
childcare support, which make it harder for women to enter or progress in employment, 35 (See
Article 11) and to other family benefits. The effect of the credit is likely to discourage women
with working partners to return to paid work after the birth of a child. This will leave many women
without an independent income, more vulnerable to violence and financial control and abuse
due to unequal power relationships and at risk of poverty if the couple separate. Cash support
for childcare is to be spread more thinly under Universal Credit, meaning that many families on
low-incomes will be worse off in work once childcare costs are taken into account. Already, the
average second earner in the UK keeps only 32% of their earnings once childcare costs are taken
into account, compared with 48% on average in OECD countries . 36 (See Appendix: 18)
The Government want to look at how Universal Credit can support non-traditional work patterns
such as ‘mini jobs’ to support people back into work, offering an incentive to work and reducing
the risk of making the transition into paid work. 37 Some women may gain from this because they
will be able to combine Universal Credit with ‘mini-jobs’ of less than 16 hours a week. However,
others may lose out depending on the way the credit is calculated. 38 In fact this might also lead
to women who are currently working more than 16 hours to reduce their working hours to 16
because they are better off.
Combined with a single household-level payment for all benefits, Universal Credit threatens to
increase intra-household inequality of access to income, and the use of stronger conditionality
that particularly affects women. The way in which Universal Credit is being pursued will
have a differential impact on women, 39 leaving 150,000 of the UK’s poorest single working
mothers up to £68 a week worse off and unable to make ends meet and pushing a quarter of a
million children deeper into poverty. 40 The Government has also acknowledged this with Chris
Grayling, the Minister of State for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) saying in 2011
that “research has suggested that, particularly in low-income households, the [...] assumption
with regard to income sharing within couples is not always valid as men sometimes benefit at
the expense of women from shared household income.” 41
Universal Credit will also be paid as a single monthly payment. At the moment some benefits are
paid fortnightly, while tax credits are paid monthly. The Women’s Budget Group 42 argues that
this will cause problems with budgeting for some families. This will particularly impact on women
34. Women’s Resource Centre (2012) Factsheet: Women and the cuts 2012 WRC: London http://thewomensresourcecentre.org.uk/wpcontent/uploads/women-and-the-cuts.pdf
35. Hirsch, D. (2011) Childcare Support and the Hours Trap. Resolution Foundation and Gingerbread http://www.resolutionfoundation.org/
media/media/downloads/Childcare_support__the_hours_trap.pdf
36. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (2011) Doing Better for Families. http://www.oecd.org/document/49/0,3746,
en_2649_34819_47654961_1_1_1_1,00.html
37. Government Equalities Office (2010) The Equality Strategy – Building a Fairer Britain. GEO: London http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/
publications/equalities/equality-strategy-publications/equality-strategy/equality-strategy?view=Binary
38. Citizens Advice Bureau (2011) Universal Credit: An exploration and key questions http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/universal_credit__an_
exploration_and_key_questions-2.htm
39. Oxfam (2012) The Perfect Storm: Economic stagnation, the rising cost of living, public spending cuts, and the impact on UK poverty.
Oxfam: Oxford http://policy-practice.oxfam.org.uk/publications/the-perfect-storm-economic-stagnation-the-rising-cost-of-livingpublic-spending-228591
40. Save the Children (2012) ‘Press release: Welfare reforms to hit poorer working women, pushing 250,000 children deeper into poverty’,
Save the Children website, 13th March 2012 http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/node/2457
41. The Fawcett Society (2011) The Impact of Austerity on Women. Fawcett: London http://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/wp-content/
uploads/2013/02/The-Impact-of-Austerity-on-Women-19th-March-2012.pdf
42. Women’s Budget Group http://www.wbg.org.uk/ Accessed: 21/03/13
134 Women’s equality in the UK: CEDAW shadow report 2013