Research by the House of Commons Library has shown £6 Billion of the £8 Billion extra tax and benefit changes in George Osborne’s mini-budget will be paid by women.
The unfairness is so great that the Fawcett Society, the country’s leading women’s rights group carrying forward the struggles that got the vote for women, is taking the Government to court, challenging the legality of a budget where Ministers do not even seem to have thought about the effects on women.
The Equalities and Human Rights Commission has also voiced its concern, reminding the Treasury of the Government’s responsibility to consider equality issues when making decisions.
As Labour’s Yvette Cooper puts it, “The budget widens the gap between women and men, reduces women’s financial independence and makes it harder for women to choose how to balance work and family life… Rolling back the state from family support – cutting tax credits and maternity support – inevitably hits women harder. Women are also affected more than men by cuts in attendance allowance and state second pensions, but benefit less from increased tax allowances. George Osborne expects women to pay three times more than men to accelerate deficit cuts, even though women still earn and own far less.”
There are only three women in the Coalition Cabinet.
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