An article found that the 'acrimony' against positive actions for increasing the number of women Assembly Members in the Wales Labour Party was still in evidence in the reselection procedures for the 2003 elections. Although women in other parties in Wales had not lost ground there was only some minor improvement in the Conservative Party, and little evidence of impact of the Sex Discrimination (Election of Candidates) Act 2002.
Source: Julia Edwards and Christine Chapman, 'Women's political representation in the National Assembly for Wales', Contemporary Politics, Volume 9 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2003-Dec
The Department of Trade and Industry published its autumn 2003 performance report, reviewing progress towards its key targets. On fuel poverty, it said the number of vulnerable households in fuel poverty in England had fallen from around 3 million in 1996 to around 1.4 million in 2001; and that the number of households in fuel poverty in the United Kingdom had fallen by around 2.5 million since 1996, down to around 3 million in 2001. It also described progress on targets relating to gender and racial equality, such as childcare, flexible working, equal pay, and public appointments.
Source: Autumn Performance Report 2003, Cm 6067, Department of Trade and Industry, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Dec
An article presented findings from a comprehensive official study of women in Britain (originally published in 2002). Differences between men and women were getting smaller over a wide range of areas from employment to education and health. Women lived longer than men on average, although the gap was expected to narrow slightly over the next 25 years. There were more older women in the population: over 60 per cent of those aged 70 or over were women. Women s labour market participation had increased over recent years and their employment rates had risen, whereas men s participation in the labour market had declined slightly. Flexible working patterns had increased for both men and women, and around 6 million people in employment now worked flexibly. Girls performed better than boys in education and in getting qualifications. Educational performance of both boys and girls had improved in the late 1990s.
Source: Angelika Hibbett and Nigel Meager, 'Key indicators of women s position in Britain', Labour Market Trends, October 2003, Office for National Statistics, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Article (pdf) | ONS press release (pdf) | 2002 report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Oct
A paper examined the caring relationships of single women, as daughters and mothers, and argued against the notion that remaining single should be seen as a paradigm of 'selfish individualism' among women.
Source: Roona Simpson, Contemporary Spinsters in the New Millennium: Changing notions of family and kinship, Gender Institute/London School of Economics (020 7955 7602)
Links: Paper (pdf)
Date: 2003-Sep
A paper said that women who were economic 'providers' within a relationship were more likely to diverge from their partner s political values over time than other women.
Source: Man-Yee Kan and Anthony Heath, The Political Attitudes and Choices of Husbands and Wives, Working Paper 103, Centre for Research into Elections and Social Trends, available from University of Strathclyde (0141 552 4400)
Links: Paper (pdf)
Date: 2003-Sep
An article discussed some of the problems involved in trying to develop gender-sensitive ways of measuring poverty. It argued that what was needed was a way of measuring both the contribution of individuals to the resources of their household, and the extent of their dependence on others within it. The concept of social exclusion multi-dimensional, dynamic, local and relational could provide a way to explore these issues of autonomy and dependency, and their gender dimensions.
Source: Jane Millar, 'Gender, poverty and social exclusion', Social Policy and Society, Volume 2 Issue 3/July 2003
Links: Abstract
Date: 2003-Aug
The government submitted its fifth Report to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. It showed how the relevant UN convention had been implemented in the United Kingdom between 1999 and 2003.
Source: Changing World, Changing Lives Women in the UK since 1999, Women and Equality Unit/Department of Trade and Industry (0845 001 0029)
Links: Summary (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jul
An article considered the contribution of changes in mortality and fertility to the likelihood of having one or more surviving children at a given age and/or a surviving parent. The proportion of people aged 60 with a mother alive was projected to more than double between those born in 1911 and 1970, and to increase for at least the next 30 years. While there were increasing concerns about the availability of informal care for elderly people from children, the authors concluded that a higher proportion of elderly people were likely to have a surviving child than for any generation ever born in Britain.
Source: Michael Murphy and Emily Grundy, 'Mothers with living children and children with living mothers: the role of fertility and mortality in the period 1911 2050', Population Trends 112, Summer 2003, Office for National Statistics, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Article (pdf) | ONS press release (pdf) | LSTHM press release
Date: 2003-Jun
A think-tank paper challenged the 'prevailing fallacy' that men and women were interchangeable in their aspirations for work and family life. It said that the government's policies towards 'work-life balance' did not reflect the real needs of modern women and their families, and were based instead on a set of false assumptions.
Source: Jill Kirby, Choosing to be Different: Women, work and the family, Centre for Policy Studies (020 7222 4488)
Links: Paper (pdf) | CPS press release
Date: 2003-Jun
An article investigated care provided to parents and parents-in-law by mid-life adults with dependent children at home. General Household Survey data were used to estimate the prevalence of this two-way care. Having a higher education qualification was associated with later ages both of caring for parents and of having children at home. Increasingly late first childbearing, however, pointed towards a potentially greater caring squeeze for higher qualified women, with a little over 1 in 10 at age 45 projected to be caring for a parent while still having a child under 18 in the household.
Source: Emily Agree, Beverley Bissett and Michael Rendall, 'Simultaneous care for parents and care for children among mid-life British women and men', Population Trends 112, Summer 2003, Office for National Statistics, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Article (pdf) | ONS press release (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jun
A report documented and analysed the experiences of 45 men and women living on a low income, drawn from three groups: young people, the Bangladeshi community, and (married/cohabiting) parents of dependent children. Those interviewed were uncomfortable with the term poverty as a description of their situation, preferring the term 'living on a low income . Managing the limited budget available was central to the participants lives: although mothers, especially, worked hard to reduce children s expectations, the cost of buying both essential and aspirational items for children was very burdensome. Borrowing money almost always from friends and family was a widespread experience, and often led to problem debt, with damaging personal and social consequences. All respondents were conscious of the social isolation accompanying their poverty, and the tensions at home which it led to: this was a particular problem for women, who often concealed financial difficulties from their husbands.
Source: Sue Yeandle, Karen Escott, Linda Grant and Elaine Batty, Women and Men Talking about Poverty, Working Paper Series 7, Equal Opportunities Commission (0161 833 9244)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Apr
A survey of older women from different ethnic groups found that the majority now expect more from life than they have in the past: but little is known about what they regard as quality of life and successful ageing, and the information tends to ignore ethnic minority women.
Source: Haleh Afshar and Mary Maynard, Empowerment and Disempowerment: Comparative study of Afro-Caribbean, Asian and white British women in their third age, Economic and Social Research Council (01793 413000)
Links: Summary (pdf) | Press release
Date: 2003-Feb
Psychiatrists said (in response to a government consultation) that, while recognising that the mental health needs of women may be different from those of men, flexibility of service design should be retained as far as possible (so that not all services become segregated along gender lines).
Source: Women's Mental Health: Response, Royal College of Psychiatrists (020 7235 2351)
Links: Response | Consultation Document
Date: 2003-Feb
Figures were published for life expectancy at birth, analysed by local authority in England and Wales, for the years 1991-93 to 1999-2001. The figures were revised to take into account the 2001 Census results. Ten areas were identified where female life expectancy dropped over the period.
Source: Life Expectancy at Birth by Local Authority in England and Wales 1991-1993 to 1999-2001, Office for National Statistics (020 7533 5210)
Links: Report (pdf) | Press release (pdf)
Date: 2003-Feb
A report contained a study of women asylum seekers in the United Kingdom, providing details about their sociological backgrounds, the grounds on which they claim asylum, and the nature of the abuse they experienced in their country of origin.
Source: Women Asylum Seekers in the UK: A gender perspective some facts and figures, Refugee Women s Resource Project/Asylum Aid (020 7377 5123)
Links: Report (Word file)
Date: 2003-Feb
The Equal Opportunities Commission published an annual compendium of statistics relating to the position of women and men in Great Britain.
Source: Facts about Women and Men in Great Britain 2003, Equal Opportunities Commission (0845 601 5901)
Links: Report (pdf)
See also: Journal of Social Policy Volume 30/4, Digest 120, paragraph 11.1
Date: 2003-Jan