NWCI calls for the government to tackle the scale of the challenge for women’s economic equality
Published: Monday, June 27, 2016
At the National Economic Dialogue today, the National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI) called on the Government to ensure that Budget 2017 tackles the scale of the challenge of women’s equality, prioritising investment in essential public services and infrastructure, particularly childcare, and narrowing the gender pay and pensions gap.
Childcare
Niamh Allen, Head of Development and Membership at NWCI said,
‘Despite consensus at the National Economic Dialogue last year, and indeed, the prominence of the childcare crisis throughout the general election campaign, NWCI expresses its frustration that there has been no real progress made on addressing affordability and quality in childcare. NWCI continues to advocate for a state subsidised Early Years infrastructure that is of high quality, affordable and accessible to all. Until this becomes a reality women will remain at a serious disadvantage in terms of access to, and progression within, the workforce. While the imminent introduction of paid paternity leave is to be welcomed, this is only part of the wider Early Years jigsaw. It is crucial our early years policies work, as they are not only important for children and parents, but are crucial for the growth and development of our nation. We need to ensure that Budget 2017 extends to paid and shared parental leave.’
Gender Proofing
Niamh Allen continued,
‘Seven austerity budgets have undermined hard-won progress on gender equality, so the gender pay gap has increased from 12.6% in 2009 to 14.4% in 2014. That women in Ireland still earn less, work fewer hours and withdraw from the labour market to a greater extent than men in turn impacts on the gender pensions gap. Moreover, women’s access to pensions in Ireland was historically restricted and reflected the idea of the male breadwinner, which underpinned so much of Ireland’s social welfare, taxation and employment policies. To address Ireland’s huge and growing gender pension gap, NWCI is advocating for the implementation of a Universal State Pension for all over 66 living in Ireland.’
‘The inclusion of NWCI’s recommendation for equality and gender proofing in the independent fiscal and budget office, and within key government departments for Budget 2017, is welcome. However, the timeframe for this work to be carried out in a meaningful manner is worryingly short. We need to ensure that we have meaningful gender sensitive budgeting and social impact assessments in all aspects of government planning and spending, and that this does not amount to a box-ticking exercise. In practice applying these principles would mean gendering all government policy and budgets and bringing greater transparency about social welfare, tax policy and labour market policy. This can only be done if data is effectively disaggregated to enable examination of the gendered impact of policy decisions.’
Significant change needed for women’s equality
Niamh Allen concluded,
‘It is crucial that Budget 2017 is more than a step in the right direction for women. This new government needs to tackle the escalating childcare crisis, and take significant steps to end the gender pay and gender pensions gap. It is critical that we prioritise investment in public services, and not implement tax cuts which would only service to benefit the top third income earners, and risk eroding the revenue base needed to deliver quality public services, including childcare. In spite of the impact of the UK’s Brexit vote and the unchartered territory in which we find ourselves, our new government must take concrete steps toward a more equal and sustainable Ireland.’
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