International Women’s Day

Lord Bishop of Southwark Excerpts

Friday 8th March 2024 Lords Chamber

[The Lord Bishop of Southwark]

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Barran, for securing this important debate on International Women’s Day. I look forward to the maiden speech of the noble Baroness, Lady Casey of Blackstock.

It is my belief that the kingdom of God is a place of radical inclusion in which all are welcome and all shall flourish. I speak as the duty bishop today, but I am mindful of the determined advocates on this Bench, which include the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Gloucester, who is attending the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

I wish to make three points. As we have already heard, disparities are both global and very particular. According to Oxfam in 2020, the 22 richest men in the world have more wealth combined that all the women in Africa. In terms of the prevalence of global poverty, there is little difference between male and female children, but by their late teens the bias against young women is marked, and the gap peaks between the ages of 25 and 34.

First, the restoration of the UK’s ambition to spend 0.7% of its gross national income on overseas aid is something this Bench will continue to call for as an important means to address poverty and the imbalance affecting women and girls. The drop to 0.5% is exacerbated by the fact that domestic spending on refugees is allowed out of the aid budget. Whereas that was 3.2% of aid spending in 2016, by 2022 it was 29% of a budget otherwise intended for overseas aid.

Because the Church is an international entity, my office as a bishop often takes me abroad. In the case of Zimbabwe, with which I am familiar, women are disproportionately likely to be engaged in what is generally known as the informal economy. Their activities in small and micro-enterprises are hampered, according to the International Labour Organization, by the lack of access to, or sudden withdrawal of, credit. It is further curtailed by the scourge of corruption. It is difficult for such enterprises to survive, let alone grow. Aid programmes need to recognise the level at which such enterprises operate.

Secondly, I wish to bring to your Lordships’ attention the report of the archbishops’ Reimagining Care Commission, which identified the challenges experienced by unpaid carers. Other noble Lords have already talked about the caring issue. Research carried out last year by the Trades Union Congress found that women are seven times more likely to be out of work than men, owing to caring commitments—approximately 1.46 million women compared to about 230,000 men. In addition, Carers UK has found that 59% of people caring for someone with a disability are women. This is why it is so important to deliver on the commission’s proposed new deal for carers, which would include the opportunity for restorative breaks, increased financial support and more proactive advice.

Thirdly, I welcome the fact that the Women and Equalities Committee in the other place is conducting an inquiry into the impact on women of the rising cost of living. One of the points raised during oral evidence was the impact the pandemic and the cost of living crisis has had in the form of loss of jobs in the food, retail and hospitality sectors, which disproportionately employ women.

The reduction in national insurance contributions announced in the Budget is welcome, as is reform to child benefit. But we do not have in our political life a programme that will adequately tackle the challenge affecting millions of people struggling to make ends meet, let alone a vision for a full life. A wider programme for a balanced economy of secure, well-paid jobs with proper, regulated provisions for sick pay, leave and severance will benefit women. As the International Monetary Fund has stated, gender equality in turn boosts economic growth and stability.

I welcome this debate, and I hope it informs both the Government’s and the Opposition’s thinking.