The Scottish Government published an analysis of the gender impact of 'reforms' to the benefits system introduced by the United Kingdom coalition government since 2010. It said that the changes had a significantly gendered impact with women being negatively affected by a large number of them. Many of the benefits typically paid to women had been frozen, cut, or restricted.
Source: The Gender Impact of Welfare Reform, Scottish Government
Links: Report | Scottish Government press release | SNP press release | Guardian report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2013-Aug
A new book examined how the global economic crisis and the subsequent austerity policies were affecting women in Europe and the United States of America. It traced the consequences for gender equality in employment and welfare systems in nine case studies from countries (including the United Kingdom) facing the most severe adjustment problems.
Source: Maria Karamessini and Jill Rubery (eds), Women and Austerity: The economic crisis and the future for gender equality, Routledge
Links: Summary
Notes: Chapters included:
Francesca Bettio and Alina Verashchagina, 'Women and men in the "great European recession"'
Jill Rubery and Anthony Rafferty, 'Gender, recession and austerity in the UK'
Paola Villa and Mark Smith, 'Policy in the time of crisis: employment policy and gender equality in Europe'
Date: 2013-Aug
An article examined the 'feminization' of poverty in 12 welfare states (including the United Kingdom) between the 1980s and the 2000s. Although the feminization of poverty had been slowed down and even reversed in certain cases, cross-regime differences had become increasingly visible. A new measurement of poverty would be required to capture the multi-dimensional features of the feminization of poverty, including human capital.
Source: Jin Wook Kim and Young Jun Choi, 'Feminisation of poverty in 12 welfare states: consolidating cross-regime variations?', International Journal of Social Welfare, Volume 22 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Aug
An article said that a feminist economics perspective was essential in order to fully understand the gender consequences of the recent recession and the ongoing economic crisis. Male workers had suffered the greatest job losses in the initial phases of the recession: but this situation appeared to have been reversed by the cuts in public sector employment and social security, which were more likely be hit women. The use of statistics relating only to paid work gave a partial analysis: a more inclusive understanding of the range of impacts on both men and women was more useful in the formulation of gender-aware, as opposed to gender-blind, policy responses to recession and recovery.
Source: Ailsa McKay, Jim Campbell, Emily Thomson, and Susanne Ross, 'Economic recession and recovery in the UK: what's gender got to do with it?', Feminist Economics, Volume 19 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Aug
An article examined factors affecting women's private pension scheme membership, such as educational attainments, income, occupational group, full-time/part-time status, and whether an individual had any dependent children. It showed that these characteristics played an important role in access to private pensions. Strategies to alleviate disadvantages needed to take into account the complex circumstances that individuals experienced throughout the life course, which resulted in gendered pension provision.
Source: Liam Foster and Jon Smetherham, 'Gender and pensions: an analysis of factors affecting women's private pension scheme membership in the United Kingdom', Journal of Aging and Social Policy, Volume 25 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Jul
A report said that women in Europe received pensions that were 39 per cent lower on average than those of men. It developed a new indicator for gender equality, the 'gender pension gap': together with the 'gender pay gap', this would help to assess the magnitude of gender inequality in the course of people's lives.
Source: Francesca Bettio, Platon Tinios, and Gianni Betti (with Francesca Gagliardi and Thomas Georgiadis), The Gender Gap in Pensions in the EU, European Commission
Links: Report | EWL press release
Date: 2013-Jun
A think-tank paper examined the impact of tax credits and income support programmes on female education choice, employment, hours, and human capital accumulation over the life-cycle. Important incentive effects were found on education choice and labour supply, with lone mothers having the most elastic labour supply. Returns to labour market experience were found to be substantial, but only for full-time employment, and especially for women with more than basic formal education. For those with lower education the programmes were shown to have substantial insurance value. Marginal increases to tax credits were preferable to equally costly increases in income support and to tax cuts, except for those in the highest education group.
Source: Richard Blundell, Monica Costa Dias, Costas Meghir, and Jonathan Shaw, Female Labour Supply, Human Capital and Welfare Reform, Working Paper 13/10, Institute for Fiscal Studies
Notes: Also published as Cowles Foundation Discussion Paper 1892, Yale University
Date: 2013-May
A report examined gender differences in social protection in Europe. Social protection systems were not completely gender-neutral. Sometimes gender differences lay in the nature of a specific sex, and social protection benefits (such as providing healthcare at birth, and maternity/paternity benefits) had to take this into account. Other gender differences might exist in a more overt form, like distinctive retirement ages, which might influence unemployment benefits as well. Some gender differences were more covert or disguised: they usually related to the weaker position of women in the labour market, which was mirrored in the (employment-based) social protection schemes. Longer insurance periods or no access for low-income earners to social protection schemes mainly affected women. The same applied if longer insurance/residence periods were required for the calculation of benefits.
Source: Grega Strban, Gender Differences in Social Protection, MISSOC Analysis 2012/2, Mutual Information System on Social Protection/Social Security
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Mar
A think-tank report said that women in Wales had been badly affected by the economic downturn, particularly as a result of cuts in the public sector, the increase in pension age, and welfare reforms.
Source: Women, Work and the Recession in Wales, Bevan Foundation
Links: Report | Summary | BBC report
Date: 2013-Feb
A study explored the impact on women of the economic and financial crisis, in terms of social welfare systems across the European Union (including a case study of the United Kingdom). There had been severe reductions in social welfare services and benefits, although overall expenditure had increased as a result of increasing need. Where austerity measures had been pursued, there had been little consideration of the need for deeper structural reform: in particular, the gender impacts of welfare changes or welfare retrenchment appear to have been given little consideration.
Source: Katie McCracken, Matteo Jessoula, Antigone Lyberaki, Will Bartlett, and Ewa Kusidel, Gender Aspects of the Effects of the Economic Downturn and Financial Crisis on Welfare Systems, European Parliament
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Feb
A paper examined how well a modern tax system, based on annual information, targeted lifetime inequality for women; and which aspects of the transfer system were most progressive from a lifetime perspective. The tax and benefits system was found to be more redistributive from an annual than from a lifetime perspective, and was most progressive at the bottom of the income distribution in both cases. Heterogeneity in family experiences throughout adult life was the main vehicle through which the tax and benefits system moderated lifetime inequality. Although transitory, family conditions under which working was especially costly, such as lone motherhood, were especially prevalent among the lifetime poor. By targeting this group, particularly using policies specifically designed to improve the work incentives of those with the lowest earnings capacity, the tax and benefits system did achieve life-cycle redistribution. Other policies, such as universal benefits for family with children, were less well targeted towards the lifetime poor but were more progressive and improved the work incentives in the middle 60 per cent of the distribution of lifetime income.
Source: Mike Brewer, Monica Costa Dias, and Jonathan Shaw, Lifetime Inequality and Redistribution, Working Paper 12/23, Institute for Fiscal Studies
Date: 2013-Jan
A report said that the coalition government's 2012 autumn financial statement had delivered 'yet another blow' to women's rights and gender equality. The government's strategy to reduce public debt by cutting spending on benefits and services, rather than increasing tax revenue, had hit women hard. These policies adversely affected people receiving tax credits and social security, and those most reliant on public services: women were over-represented in both these groups.
Source: The Impact on Women of Autumn Financial Statement 2012 and Welfare Benefits Up-Rating Bill 2013, Women's Budget Group
Links: Report | New Statesman report
Date: 2013-Jan