Socialism and Women’s Liberation

Women shoulder a double burden under capitalism – working to earn money in the day and then doing unpaid housework and childcare in the evenings.

Cuts to jobs, tax credits and benefits, funding for education, health and social care budgets, legal advice and women’s organisations will have a terrible effect on women who depend on these services.

The 500, 000 cuts to public sector jobs – where women make up 65% of the employment – are forcing huge numbers of women to join the dole queue.

As a secure employer, the public sector employs a high percentage of women, allowing them to balance work with childcare responsibilities.

The proposed cuts will push more women and families into poverty. On top of cuts to benefits and tax credits for families, women are more likely to be hit by cuts to local services.

The fact that women shoulder most of the responsibility for caring for children and elderly relatives means that we will suffer the most from cuts to services for children, the disabled and the elderly. If these services are cut, it is women who will have to provide care at home, for free.

In 2006, 62% of all applications for legal aid were by women. As a result, legal aid cuts will hit women the hardest. Family law, including divorce and child residence cases, would no longer be eligible for legal aid other than where domestic violence or forced marriage is proven. Women suffering psychological abuse are also disqualified under the legal aid reforms. Without the crucial support offered by legal aid, more women will end up trapped in abusive relationships.

Rape crisis centres which support survivors of sexual violence are under threat too. The promised funding for new centres has been withdrawn and existing centres face large budget cuts. These cuts will severely reduce the number of rape victims who benefit from their services, leaving thousands of women vulnerable to repeated abuse.

Such an attack on women’s services disempowers women. We are being forced back into the home in order to cope with an increased burden of caring for children and for sick and elderly relatives. The effect of these spending cuts will be to leave women at an economic and social disadvantage. The welfare state has played a vital role in easing the burden of housework on women, allowing us to enter into the workplace.

These measures risk overturning all the gains we’ve made over the generations. Our message has to be very simple – we won’t go back and will unite and fight for our rights.