Women’s equality in the UK – A health check

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13.38 13.39 13.40 welfare changes continue to affect women disproportionately. Poorer children on average experience poorer health during their childhoods and the effects of this last throughout their lives. Three-year-olds in households with incomes below about £10,000 are 2.5 times more likely to suffer chronic illness than children in households with incomes above £52,000. 83 Children growing up in poverty experience significant long-term impacts on their health, educational attainment, employment opportunities and life expectancy. 84 It has been estimated that Government’s plans will push 600,000 more children into poverty by 2013. 85 Britain’s exceptionally high levels of child poverty already cost £25bn a year. 86 By 2020 one quarter of our children will be growing up in poverty and UNICEF has said that this is a direct result of the Government’s cuts. 87 Housing and homelessness Since 2010 a wide array of cuts and caps to Housing Benefit (support for housing costs for those on low/no income) have been introduced. The National Housing Foundation has warned that benefit reductions could put 200,000 people at risk of losing their homes. 88 These changes will have a particularly damaging impact on women as they constitute the majority of recipients of Housing Benefit: 89 single women constitute approximately 50% of recipients, with couples composing around 20% and single males 30%. 90 It is expected that 60% of single women, many of whom are lone parents, will receive less Housing Benefit under the housing benefit cap, compared to 3% of single men. 91 47% of those affected will have children, of which 32% will be lone parents. 92 (See Appendix: 15) Overall, almost one million more women claim Housing Benefit than men – many of whom will be single mothers at risk of poverty. Case study: 93 “It [the housing benefit cap] fills me with dread and I’ve tried to move to a flat instead of a house which is about £50 cheaper per month, but no one will touch me because I’m a [social] housing tenant. So when these changes take place, I will have to end my contract here and probably go homeless – they aren’t leaving me with any choice.” Single mother, London. 83. Barnardo’s, Child poverty statistics and facts http://www.barnardos.org.uk/what_we_do/our_projects/child_poverty/child_poverty_what_ is_poverty/child_poverty_statistics_facts.htm Accessed: 15/04/13 84. Government Equalities Office (2010) An anatomy of economic inequality in the UK: Report of the National Equality Panel. GEO: London http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/27_01_10_inequalityfull..pdf 85. Institute for Fiscal Studies (2011) Child and Working-Age Poverty from 2010 to 2020. IFS: London http://www.ifs.org.uk/comms/comm121. pdf 86. Hirsch, D. (2008) Estimating the costs of child poverty. Joseph Rowntree Foundation: London http://www.jrf.org.uk/publications/ estimating-costs-child-poverty 87. In UNISON (2012) InFocus July 2012. UNISON: London http://www.unison.org.uk/Acrobat/IF2012.07.pdf 88. ACEVO (2010) Squaring the Circle: How charities can help Government cut spending whilst protecting society’s most vulnerable http:// tinyurl.com/5vhc79t 89. Stephenson, M. and Harrison, J. (2011) Unravelling Equality: A Human Rights and Equality Impact Assessment of the Spending Cuts on Women in Coventry. A Joint Report of the Centre for Human Rights in Practice, University of Warwick and Coventry Women’s Voices http:// www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/chrp/projectss/humanrightsimpactassessments/cwv/ 90. Department for Work and Pensions (2010) Equality impact assessment housing benefit. Welfare and Wellbeing Group http://www.dwp.gov. uk/docs/lha-and-carers-eia.pdf 91. Department for Work and Pensions (2011) Housing Benefit Cap: Equality Impact Assessment http://tinyurl.com/438o5yy 92. Department for Work and Pensions (2010) Equality Impact Assessment Housing Benefit – Changes to the Local Housing Allowance arrangements and Housing Benefit size criteria for people with non-resident overnight carers. www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/lha-eia-nov10.pdf 93. 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 140 Women’s equality in the UK: CEDAW shadow report 2013
13.41 13.42 Homelessness, including female homelessness, is on the rise. 94 Government figures released in 2012 showed a 23% increase in rough sleepers 95 and a 14% increase in households accepted as homeless. 96 Despite this, there has also been a reduction in the national supply of all types of supported accommodation 97 and between 2011 and 2012 there was a 40% drop in the proportion of homelessness services specifically targeted at women. 98 35% of women who have slept rough left home to flee domestic violence and on average have more support needs than those who do not sleep rough. 99 A ’one size fits all’ approach does not work in homelessness services. There are few women-only shelters or accommodation and those that do exist are not fully accessible to all women or appropriate to their needs and are often overstretched with few places available. (See Appendix: 26 for further information) Black and minority ethnic women CEDAW General Recommendation 28 100 indicates that policy must identify women within the jurisdiction of the State as rights-bearers, with particular emphasis on the groups of women who are most marginalised and who may suffer from various forms of intersectional discrimination. However, the cuts to welfare benefits are already having, and will continue to have, a greater impact on BME women as 40% of ethnic minority women live in poverty, twice the proportion of white women: 101 38% of Black women and 64% of Pakistani and Bangladeshi women, compared with 20% of white women. 102 More than one in five people moving into adult services also come from a BME community. 103 Case study: “We provide services to Latin American women in the UK, one of the most invisible groups of minority women affected by multiple discrimination on the grounds of gender, race, language and migration status. We have experienced a 40% increase in demand in one year. Women come here in desperate situations and are reporting the effects of cuts in benefits and anxiety about forthcoming cuts and changes in the welfare system. This is affecting their physical and emotional health. 80% of our users are heads of households working in low-skilled low-paid jobs with fragmented and unsocial hours, particularly in the cleaning sector. 45% live in inadequate housing and are at risk of homelessness. 11% earn below the National Minimum Wage. Most of them experience ‘in work’ poverty struggling to make ends meet.” Latin American Women’s Rights Service 104 94. Fitzpatrick, S. et al (2011) The Homelessness Monitor: Tracking the impacts of policy and economic change in England 2011-2013. Crisis: London http://www.crisis.org.uk/publications-search.php?fullitem=332 95. Department for Communities and Local Government (2012) Rough Sleeping Statistics England - Autumn 2011. DCLG: London https://www. gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/7381/20936571.pdf 96. Department for Communities and Local Government (2013) Live tables on Homelessness https://www.gov.uk/government/statisticaldata-sets/live-tables-on-homelessness Accessed: 15/04/13 97. Homeless Link (2012) HomelessWatch: Survey of Needs and Provision 2012 http://homeless.org.uk/snap2012#.UMnbiGGWodU 98. From 20% of all homelessness services in 2011 to 12% in 2012 - Homeless Link (2012) HomelessWatch: Survey of Needs and Provision 2012 http://homeless.org.uk/snap2012#.UMnbiGGWodU 99. St Mungo’s (2011) Battered, Broken and Bereft – new rough sleeping report http://www.mungos.org/press_office/1002_battered-brokenbereft-new-rough-sleeping-report 100. CEDAW General Recommendation No. 28 The Core Obligations of States Parties under Article 2 of CEDAW (forty-seventh session, 2010) http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G10/472/60/PDF/G1047260.pdf?OpenElement 101. The Fawcett Society (2009) Poverty Pathways: Ethnic minority women’s livelihoods. Fawcett and Oxfam: London http://www.womens. cusu.cam.ac.uk/campaigns/bem/fawcett_ethnicminoritywomen.pdf 102. Warburton Brown. C (2011) Exploring BME Maternal Poverty: The financial lives of ethnic minority mothers in Tyne and Wear. Oxfam GB: Oxford http://policy-practice.oxfam.org.uk/publications/exploring-bme-maternal-poverty-the-financial-lives-of-ethnic-minoritymothers-i-120665 103. Giving Us a Voice, Charter for Inclusion http://givingusavoice.org.uk/charter-for-inclusion-sign-up/ Accessed: 21/03/2013 104. McIlwaine, C. (2011) No Longer Invisible: The Latin American community in London. Queen Mary University of London, Latin American Women’s Rights Service and Trust for London. http://www.trustforlondon.org.uk/No%20Longer%20Invisible%20report.pdf Women’s equality in the UK: CEDAW shadow report 2013 141
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Women’s equality in the UK - A he
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Women’s equality in the UK - A he
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Appendices (online only) Appendix 1
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• the continued discrimination ag
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• Develop a common model of analy
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Article 9 - Nationality: One third
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investment in social infrastructure
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and increase the marginalisation of
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have been no prosecutions in Englan
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1 2 3 4 5 Introduction This is a Un
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10 11 12 13 housing crisis, a ‘lo
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1.1 1.2 1.3 Article 1 - Overarching
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1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 1.11 1.12 Women’
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1.17 1.18 1.19 Young women We are a
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2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 consult to “remov
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2.12 2.13 discrimination”. Howeve
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2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 worsen gen
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2.26 2.27 2.28 2.29 CEDAW and the l
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3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10 would “increase
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3.15 3.16 3.17 and accountable EHRC
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3.22 3.23 3.24 report is was partic
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classes, migrants, and Gypsy, Trave
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the institutional discrimination an
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5.5 5.6 5.7 Case study: 8 Sandra li
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5.12 5.13 5.14 issue. A more approp
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6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Article 6 - Exploit
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6.9 6.10 6.11 to the protection and
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6.15 6.16 6.17 6.18 Office’s own
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6.24 6.25 6.26 women and increase t
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6.31 6.32 6.33 6.34 infrequent lap
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7.1 7.2 Article 7 - Political and p
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7.7 7.8 7.9 7.10 The House of Lords
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7.13 7.14 7.15 7.16 7.17 Recommenda
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7.21 7.22 7.23 Political representa
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9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 Article
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9.9 9.10 Mainstreaming gender in th
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9.15 9.16 9.17 biased views towards
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9.21 9.22 9.23 9.24 women. 47 (See
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9.28 9.29 9.30 9.31 New family migr
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9.35 9.36 UKBA, where men and women
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9.39 9.40 9.41 9.42 • Do not redu
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9.46 Research on immigration case m
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10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 10.9 The Educat
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10.13 10.14 10.15 10.16 boys and on
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19.77 19.78 19.79 A number of repor
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19.85 19.86 means more provision. T
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Annex 1: The Devolved Administratio
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to 41.8% of rural men. 16 Rural are
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Annex 2: The UK’s relationship wi
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Annex 3: UK reservations and declar
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ESA - Employment and Support Allowa
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Annex 5: Acknowledgements Many than
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Women’s Resource Centre is suppor
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