Hi all,
My name is Thaira and i am the Communications Officer at Women's Budget Group. We are a not-for-profit organisation that work to create a gender equa economy.
Women's Budget Group released a report earlier this month. The report Triple Whammy: the impact of local government cuts on women, looks at how cuts to funding for local government have created a crisis, which has hit women the hardest.
Central government funding for local government fell by nearly 50% between 2010/11 and 2017/18 and will fall by over 56% by 2019/20.
Between 2010 and 2020 £16 billion will have been cut from local council’s budgets and the gap is set to grow.
In the last year there have been two reports from UN experts highlighting the devastating impact austerity is having on women’s human rights.
Below is the link to the full report
wbg.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Triple-Whammy-the-impact-of-local-government-cuts-on-women-March-19.pdf
If you are interested in the work we do or have any comments/ questions then follow us on Twitter and Facebook and you can contact me at [email protected].
Twitter: twitter.com/WomensBudgetGrp
Facebook: www.facebook.com/womensbudgetgroup/
The reports key findings include:
Drastic cuts to local government effect council meeting statutory obligations
These cuts have had a devastating impact on local services. Spending on adult social care fell between 2010/11 and 2016/17, despite an increase of over 14% in the number of people aged over 65 in need of it.
1.4 million people currently need but do not receive social care.
Spending on other services fell by a third.
More than 75% of England’s local authorities slashed their spending on domestic violence refuges – by nearly a quarter (24%) – between 2010 and 2017.
These cuts represent a triple whammy for women: local government is responsible for many of the services on which women disproportionately depend; when services are cut many women have to increase their unpaid work to fill the gaps and women are disproportionately likely to work in local authorities and schools, so hit harder when jobs are cut.
We want to engage with people who are effected by cuts and austerity to find out what changes you would like to see and what you would like us to be addressing/ challenging the government on.
We are a friendly bunch so please don't hesitate to get in touch :-)
Kind regards,
Thaira