THE ECONOMY
Cutting Women Out in Bristol
Our report
Our report - Cutting Women Out in Bristol - captures the extent of the public sector spending cuts and their equality & human rights impact on women in Bristol, according to information available in October 2011. We launched the report on 3rd November 2011.
The full report is now available.
Read the summary of our report here
Read the press release here.
Background
In 2010 the Fawcett Society took the unprecedented step of filing for a Judicial Review of the Government's emergency budget, following research that showed that 72 per cent of cuts would be met from women's income as opposed to 28 per cent from men's. This is because many of the cuts are to the benefits that more women than men rely on, and the changes to the tax system will benefit far more men than women. In April 2011 Fawcett released a joint report with the Women's Budget Group - The Impact on Women of the Budget 2011 - which you can download here. This report warned that the 2011 Budget would do little to help those faring worst in the face of drastic public spending cuts and rising unemployment, and in fact risked widening gender inequality. In June 2011 , Fawcett released a joint report with the Institute of Fiscal Studies - Single Mothers: Singled Out: the impact of 2010-15 tax and benefit changes on women and men - which you can download here. In November 2011 Fawcett launched the Life Raft for Women's Equality - read it here.
At a local level, we are working to highlight the shockingly unfair impact that cuts are having upon the most vulnerable in our society.
In Coventry, a Human Rights and Equality Impact Assessment was published in May 2011 which analysed the cumulative impact of a range of public spending cuts on women. The report, "Unravelling Equality", concluded that the spending cuts would increase inequality between women and men and may seriously damage the human rights of some women. The Executive Summary can be found here. For further information about this report click here. We were inspired by and drew extensively on the Coventry report in order to write our own report for Bristol.
A toolkit is now available to assist others to write reports for their local areas: download the toolkit here.
Read more...
Bristol Fawcett are campaigning to challenge the fairness and the necessity of the cuts. Locally, we have requested (1) that a full gender impact assessment is carried out on the impact of proposed cuts on women, as is legally required under equality law; (2) that the results of this assessment be made available to trade unions, community organisations, local residents and service users in time to be taken into account in decisions on reductions in expenditure on public services and in employment; (3) that priority be given to protecting services and employment that disproportionately impact on women in lower income groups.
We support the Bristol Partnership's commitment to "address the potential risks of the cumulative impact of the current economic and fiscal decisions affecting some communities and groups disproportionately".
In February 2011 we wrote to the Leader and Chief Executive of Bristol City Council regarding its budget proposals, saying "We are concerned that the Council presents only a partial view of the impact on women of its budget and savings proposals and request that you make the disproportionate and cumulative impact on women explicit in your documentation". - see the full text of our letter here.
In November 2011 we presented our report to the Council's Senior Leadership Team. In December 2011 we contributed to the Equalities Impact Assessment Seminar on Bristol City Council's proposed budget savings 2012-13, and also submitted our analyses online.
The weakening of equality law in proposed changes to the public sector equality duty is a grave concern. Bristol Fawcett contributed to the Government's consultation on the public sector equality duty, via Equality South West and Fair Play South West. Read the FPSW response here.
We wrote to the Chancellor about gendered household analysis - read our letter here.
The disproportionate impact of the proposed cuts upon the most vulnerable groups has been recognised by numerous organisations including the Coalition of Resistance - visit their website here, and Women Against the Cuts - visit their website here. See also the False Economy site here and their list of Bristol cuts.
To view and contribute to the Guardian's map of public sector cuts across the UK, click here.
The Ministry of Justice has proposed a number of changes to Legal Aid which will have significant negative effects on women, particularly women experiencing violence. Click here to download the briefing from Rights of Women, and visit their website here. Visit Advice West to get involved with the local campaign. We spoke at the rally in Bristol on 7th February 2011 against the proposed cuts to Legal Aid. Read our response to the Legal Aid consultation here. Read the report by the NFWI - Legal Aid is a Lifeline - here.
The gender audit of the emergency budget commissioned by Yvette Cooper MP can be downloaded from her website: click here.
Read the Observer article: "Spending cuts are restoring the old model of male breadwinner" (5th December 2010) here.
Read the response and analysis of the independent Women's Budget Group to the 2010 Emergency Budget here. The Women's Budget Group responded to the Government's Comprehensive Spending Review - download their report, The Impact on Women of the Coalition Spending Review 2010.
Click here to read the TUC report from September 2010: Where the Money Goes: How we benefit from Public Services and click here to read the TUC report The Gender Impact of the Cuts (2011).
We are affiliated to the independent Women's Income Network, whose website can be viewed here.
Read the response to the coalition government's consultation paper on 21st Century Welfare Reform by Oxfam: A Gender Perspective on 21st Century Welfare Reform; via their website here.
The briefing by the Women's Resource Centre (WRC) on the Comprehensive Spending Review can be read here. Their briefing on the cuts is available here.
The Social Policy Association have produced an analysis: In Defence of Welfare - The Impacts of the Spending Review. Download it here - the section on implications for women begins at p19, or p21 of the pdf.
Our report
Our report - Cutting Women Out in Bristol - captures the extent of the public sector spending cuts and their equality & human rights impact on women in Bristol, according to information available in October 2011. We launched the report on 3rd November 2011.
The full report is now available.
Read the summary of our report here
Read the press release here.
Background
In 2010 the Fawcett Society took the unprecedented step of filing for a Judicial Review of the Government's emergency budget, following research that showed that 72 per cent of cuts would be met from women's income as opposed to 28 per cent from men's. This is because many of the cuts are to the benefits that more women than men rely on, and the changes to the tax system will benefit far more men than women. In April 2011 Fawcett released a joint report with the Women's Budget Group - The Impact on Women of the Budget 2011 - which you can download here. This report warned that the 2011 Budget would do little to help those faring worst in the face of drastic public spending cuts and rising unemployment, and in fact risked widening gender inequality. In June 2011 , Fawcett released a joint report with the Institute of Fiscal Studies - Single Mothers: Singled Out: the impact of 2010-15 tax and benefit changes on women and men - which you can download here. In November 2011 Fawcett launched the Life Raft for Women's Equality - read it here.
At a local level, we are working to highlight the shockingly unfair impact that cuts are having upon the most vulnerable in our society.
In Coventry, a Human Rights and Equality Impact Assessment was published in May 2011 which analysed the cumulative impact of a range of public spending cuts on women. The report, "Unravelling Equality", concluded that the spending cuts would increase inequality between women and men and may seriously damage the human rights of some women. The Executive Summary can be found here. For further information about this report click here. We were inspired by and drew extensively on the Coventry report in order to write our own report for Bristol.
A toolkit is now available to assist others to write reports for their local areas: download the toolkit here.
Read more...
Bristol Fawcett are campaigning to challenge the fairness and the necessity of the cuts. Locally, we have requested (1) that a full gender impact assessment is carried out on the impact of proposed cuts on women, as is legally required under equality law; (2) that the results of this assessment be made available to trade unions, community organisations, local residents and service users in time to be taken into account in decisions on reductions in expenditure on public services and in employment; (3) that priority be given to protecting services and employment that disproportionately impact on women in lower income groups.
We support the Bristol Partnership's commitment to "address the potential risks of the cumulative impact of the current economic and fiscal decisions affecting some communities and groups disproportionately".
In February 2011 we wrote to the Leader and Chief Executive of Bristol City Council regarding its budget proposals, saying "We are concerned that the Council presents only a partial view of the impact on women of its budget and savings proposals and request that you make the disproportionate and cumulative impact on women explicit in your documentation". - see the full text of our letter here.
In November 2011 we presented our report to the Council's Senior Leadership Team. In December 2011 we contributed to the Equalities Impact Assessment Seminar on Bristol City Council's proposed budget savings 2012-13, and also submitted our analyses online.
The weakening of equality law in proposed changes to the public sector equality duty is a grave concern. Bristol Fawcett contributed to the Government's consultation on the public sector equality duty, via Equality South West and Fair Play South West. Read the FPSW response here.
We wrote to the Chancellor about gendered household analysis - read our letter here.
*** National analyses of the cuts ***
The disproportionate impact of the proposed cuts upon the most vulnerable groups has been recognised by numerous organisations including the Coalition of Resistance - visit their website here, and Women Against the Cuts - visit their website here. See also the False Economy site here and their list of Bristol cuts.
To view and contribute to the Guardian's map of public sector cuts across the UK, click here.
The Ministry of Justice has proposed a number of changes to Legal Aid which will have significant negative effects on women, particularly women experiencing violence. Click here to download the briefing from Rights of Women, and visit their website here. Visit Advice West to get involved with the local campaign. We spoke at the rally in Bristol on 7th February 2011 against the proposed cuts to Legal Aid. Read our response to the Legal Aid consultation here. Read the report by the NFWI - Legal Aid is a Lifeline - here.
The gender audit of the emergency budget commissioned by Yvette Cooper MP can be downloaded from her website: click here.
Read the Observer article: "Spending cuts are restoring the old model of male breadwinner" (5th December 2010) here.
Read the response and analysis of the independent Women's Budget Group to the 2010 Emergency Budget here. The Women's Budget Group responded to the Government's Comprehensive Spending Review - download their report, The Impact on Women of the Coalition Spending Review 2010.
Click here to read the TUC report from September 2010: Where the Money Goes: How we benefit from Public Services and click here to read the TUC report The Gender Impact of the Cuts (2011).
We are affiliated to the independent Women's Income Network, whose website can be viewed here.
Read the response to the coalition government's consultation paper on 21st Century Welfare Reform by Oxfam: A Gender Perspective on 21st Century Welfare Reform; via their website here.
The briefing by the Women's Resource Centre (WRC) on the Comprehensive Spending Review can be read here. Their briefing on the cuts is available here.
The Social Policy Association have produced an analysis: In Defence of Welfare - The Impacts of the Spending Review. Download it here - the section on implications for women begins at p19, or p21 of the pdf.
