P12

Time to start shouting

Women are bearing the brunt of the economic cuts, argues Kiri Tunks. As girls leave school they may struggle for equality if we don’t defend the gains we’ve made.

From the minute the Comprehensive Spending Review was published last October it was clear that women were going to bear the brunt of the austerity measures. House of Commons library research predicted that 72 per cent of the proposed cuts would affect women. So how is this happening?

Women make up 65 per cent of the public sector workforce. It has been the main target for cuts, so more women workers are affected than men.

In both private and public sectors, women’s unemployment is rising while men’s is falling. Joblessness among women is at its highest level since 1988. With more cuts to come, this is unlikely to improve. Evidence from the Equality and Human Rights Commission shows that claims of workplace discrimination are increasing and this is likely to worsen.

Those who have kept their jobs have had a pay freeze and are facing harder

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