Politics is not for women

So I decided to see if I could find out some stuff about representation of women in local politics, particularly those with children (who will perhaps be overrepresented on MN).

First here's a little background information on demographics to put this into context: Roughly 34% of the population are aged 18 to 45. (I've only chosen age 45 because of the documentation I've found). So that makes about 17% of the population women who are aged 20 to 50 [source: 2011 census]. Remember that number. (Also for reference approximately 18% of population were over 65).

Anyway there have been a number of census of local authority councillors. They were in 1997, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2013.

So it seems that in theory we are rather over due for another one. (and we might have reason to question why there hasn't been one for 5 years and what changes might have happened since then).

Anyway the last one from 2013 can be found here:
www.nfer.ac.uk/publications/LGCL01/

The very first thing I spotted is that they used gender not sex in doing this research. So biology was already erased in local politics some 5 years ago.

One of the key findings was that:
Councillors’ gender profile, ethnic origin, disability status and caring responsibilities have changed very little between 2001 and 2013. In 2013, 67.3 per cent of councillors were male.

So already we have an overrepresentation of men.

Delving a little deeper there are some interesting figures in here:
Councillors had an average age of 60.2 in 2013, similar to 59.7 recorded in 2010, and up a little from 57.8 in 2004. Around one in eight (12.0 per cent) were aged under-45, a proportion which has changed little since 2004. The proportion aged 70 or over has increased from 13.8 per cent to 22.2 per cent over this period

and

The proportions of retired councillors have increased slightly year-on-year from 36.8 per cent in 2001 to 46.6 per cent in 2013. At the same time, the proportion of councillors in full-time employment has decreased steadily from 27.2 per cent in 2001 to 19.2 per cent this year, whereas there has been very little variation in the proportions of councillors who are self-employed or work part-time between 2001 and 2013

So working age people in particular have decreased their participation in local politics (see the little graph). And people under 45 have always been consistently under represented (12% of councillors in 2013) whilst those who are retired seem to be increasingly over represented. And women in general are particularly underrepresented (33% of councillors in 2013). REMEMBER: 17% of the population were women aged 20 - 45.

It doesn't take a genius to work out from this, that yes women aged 20 - 45 are one of the least and most under represented groups out there. This isn't a surprise in the slightest to me and I'm sure it won't be to most of you.

Of course conflating gender and sex won't help. If that trend of people who are working age participating in politics has continued since 2013 combined with efforts to force women into work and economic pressures to work more hours, I also think that there is a strong possibility that this lack of representation has got worse not better.

Whilst political parties all go on about how they have got more female MPs than ever before, and how we have a female PM, perhaps given cuts to services tend to happen and be prioritised at a local level, then perhaps it really is worth reflected on just HOW much women in this age group are being underrepresented, and then reflect on what political parties are doing to rectify this.

Given the recent treatment of women in relation to the trans debate and attitudes by political parties to MN and AWS, this really needs to be flagged up. It looks particularly poor.

It also does much to explain why polling like YouGov consistently is showing around 20% of women currently unsure of who to vote for which is considerably higher than it is for men.

I do think a lot more has to be done to involve women (and more generally people who are from poorer backgrounds) at lower levels, as I suspect the trend is going in wrong direction rather than improving.

I am going to try and think of how I can make some noise about this on MN and draw attention to it, and do a bit of brainstorming because clearly every political party out there really doesn't give a shit about this.

Indeed Katara. Where women invest time is precisely where traditional politics fails them. They can not both support these things AND be heavily involved in party politics when they are already stretched.

I am aware that many women know this.

But others - particularly young white middle class women who are childless - do not.

In saying biology is not important, all these precious things are even more at risk. And politicians are either blind to it or don't care (or worse, seek it).

For the most part I think it the former largely out of incompetence and ignorance. But I do think many also fall into the later if only out of self interest in their own political careers. And there a few who are very much aware of it and do act out of some sort of malice.

I find that MN is one of the only channels I can be political and potentially have any effect because of social structure, political structure and the reality of my life.

Even if its just about awareness and providing an alternative view point which isn't immediately put in the bin because its simply a lone voice in a room of people who don't share the same priorities. You can chip away for years on a subject and make a difference here. Even if its just supporting people feeling abandoned by society and politicians for whatever reason.

That's important even if no one ever really sees it as a big thing or massive achievement. The stuff on post natal care has sprung from exactly that type of thing. It would never go anywhere within the confines of a political party. I really do applaud MN for going for it. That political parties are not seeing this gap and recognising this and doing something about it, is poor.

The current political climate makes it very difficult for isolated voices to get heard. There isn't much listening to voices outside the echo chambers of traditional political power. Even with the new influence of twitter and facebook, i'm not sure everyone is being involved in the massive political changes currently happening.

Its been a criticism for some years now. If you are not highly involved and in the right circle, you have very little opportunity or ability to be heard. Not everyone can do that.

Work to think of alternative channels of communication and involvement is much needed.

We currently have a dynamic where it's about political parties speaking at the public rather than listening better. Divergence from the official sanctioned line or even the unofficial line, isn't tolerated. And you have to be on script with the latest political outrage, rather than talking about something from an alternative approach. This has got worse, not better in recent years.

This is MNs power, and what attracts a lot of users to the site. The trivial stuff is important too, but I do believe the glue that keeps it sharpest is this aspect of the site; the constant low level political buzz on even the mundane that doesn't have life elsewhere. You don't have to be a crazy headed activist to be involved or contribute something meaningful and worthwhile and you don't have to know it all to get a point heard.

I don't know. I just find what is missing from politics noteworthy by its absence.

It's not awful.

Its bloody outrageous. Especially since numerous political parties are involved.

It isn't lost on me as to why TRAs seem to be over represented in political parties even if they don't have MPs (why are lesbians seemingly so underrepresented?). Their identity is their entire life and activism is everything.

Certainly I know that I'm limited in what I could do in terms of political involvement because of child care and family commitments. I can't dedicate my life to it. Even if I was dedicated and passionate. Going to conference or taking up a local post is totally out of the question. Any volunteering end up being related to kids. Austerity and a baby boom would compound any such effect. And hence why student politics would be particularly influential too.

I wonder if that is the very thing which makes the difference in terms of influence - the thing that women on MN are concerned about - biological barriers and the social issues they create. Whilst there might be more women interested and involved in politics than there has been in the past, just how influential and involved at grassroots level are they? Its not just party membership, its the level of involvement within that. Particularly women with children of school age or younger. We only really hear of the number of female MPs and whilst that is important its only a tiny facet of political representation.

I wonder if this is something that has been looked and studied at by anyone. My guess is that its an area that isn't valued and is therefore overlooked. Any since we don't know this information, we can't fight back with it.

I wonder if MN would be interested in exploring this as an issue at some point. In terms of any campaigning they do on other subjects, its relevant because its possibly why there is a need for MN to campaign in those areas in the first place, because these issues don't have as many champions within politics - at all levels - as they deserve.

Two posts I made this morning on the site stuff thread. Thought worth reposting here.