Women and the Cost of Living

Debate between Stephen Metcalfe and Sarah Champion

Tuesday 19th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Champion (Rotherham) (Lab)]

In Rotherham, unemployment among women is far too high. According to figures from the Office for National Statistics, 13.4% of economically active women in Rotherham are unemployed. That is significantly higher than the regional figure of 8.1% and the national figure of 7.3%. While there has been some fluctuation in this figure, it has averaged almost 15% across the lifespan of the current Government.

Unfortunately, these figures are symptomatic of a national trend. Female unemployment is at its highest for a generation. Over 1 million women in the UK are out of work, an increase of 82,000 under this Government. When we look at long-term female unemployment, the situation is much worse as it is rising eight times faster than for men. The number of women out of work for more than 12 months increased by 79,000 between May 2010 and August 2013, while the number of men out of work for more than 12 months increased by 10,000. The number of older women—those aged 50-plus—who are unemployed has increased by 42,000, which is up by more than a third, over the same period, while male unemployment in this age group has fallen by 15,000. Black minority ethnic women also have a disproportionately high level of unemployment than men.

Where women are finding employment, their pay continues to lag behind that for male colleagues. Changes to in-work benefit left many women in Rotherham struggling to earn a living, in sharp contrast to the Government’s oft-repeated aim of making work pay. Furthermore, the increase in the cost of living has left many women facing an extremely insecure existence, and an even bleaker future.

A constituent I met recently shared her experiences, which are no doubt repeated across the country. A single parent, she desperately wants to return to work, but the huge costs of child care and cuts to in-work benefits mean that it is simply untenable.

[Stephen Metcalfe]

Will the hon. Lady give way?

[Sarah Champion]

I am sorry, but I do not have the time.

My constituent is thus forced to choose between short-term, part-time and low-paid work or to stay at home. To make her situation worse, local amenities on which she relies are facing closure as a result of Government cuts to local authority budgets and to national programmes such as Sure Start.

I want to mention two other issues related to the increasing unemployment of women. The first is the lack of role models for young women. It is very noticeable that this Government have only four women in a Cabinet of 22. Only 23% of this Parliament’s Members are women, the vast majority of them being Labour MPs. When we look at chief executives and board membership, we see that this situation is, unfortunately, common. That is compounded by a lack of consistent careers advice in schools, and in some schools no careers advice at all, so how are young women meant to make informed career choices?

The other key consideration in respect of why more women are unemployed has to do with their caring responsibilities and lack of Government support for them. For younger women that is likely to be child care, while for older women it is more likely to be care of their parents or their partners. The support for both those groups of women to enable them both to care and to work is being systematically chipped away. Not only is this bad for the women; it is also bad for the country economically. The ultimate irony is that of the £14.4 billion raised in 2014-15 through the additional net direct tax and benefit, pay and pension changes announced since the general election, £11.4 billion—or around 79%—is coming from women and £2.9 billion is coming from men.

House of Commons Library analysis shows that women will be hit four times harder by the new direct tax credit and benefit changes announced in December’s autumn statement, with women shouldering £867 million of the £1.1 billion raised. This situation is immoral and unfair, and it needs to change.