Women of the North: Inequality, Health and Work Report debated in Parliament

[POWNewcastleEastWallsend]

Women are facing "vast inequalities" in the North East
Northern Echo - 5th November

A report revealing the "vast inequalities" faced by North East women is today being debated in Parliament.

Mary Kelly Foy, Labour MP for the City of Durham, is leading the debate which shows women in the North East live shorter lives, work more hours for less pay, are more likely to be an unpaid carer, and more likely to live in poverty than women in other regions of England.

The research, carried out by Health Equity North, lays bare the challenges facing women and the growing regional inequalities over the last decade.

‘Woman of the North: Inequality, health and work’ finds that women living in the North have lower healthy life expectancy, fewer qualifications, worse mental health, and are more likely to suffer domestic violence or to end up in the criminal justice system than their counterparts in the rest of England.

Full article:
www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/24700217.women-facing-vast-inequalities-north-east/

Parliament TV
Westminster Hall debate: Inequalities faced by women in the North
Mary Kelly Foy MP (City of Durham, Labour)
www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/8f37f0af-a1bf-40c0-926c-aa66ec7dd349

Hansard
hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2024-11-05/debates/E91C9685-3597-409A-AA3C-736218C5BEA0/WomanAndEqualityNorthOfEngland#contribution-D3EED49F-226B-4E66-89D5-3D155F700323

Women of the North: Inequality, Health and Work
www.healthequitynorth.co.uk/app/uploads/Woman-of-the-North-report.pdf

Thanks

Fundamentally, it comes down to lack of economic growth and productivity in the north. Fix that, and a lot of the female-specific stuff will improve. Not an easy task, however.

Devolution, including of tax raising powers, would help. The North needs efficient public transport in cities, high speed rail, and a couple of extra motorways. Hard decisions need to be taken; if we want Leeds, Manchester and the other big players to become "serious" second tier cities, this may mean accepting that some small, marginal towns may decline as a result.

As a rural northern woman I'd be very concerned if the takeaway from this report is to concentrate spending on the cities and allow small towns to decline. Leeds and Manchester are already serious in terms of productivity but cities like Durham, Newcastle, Bradford and Liverpool are not. You should look at the 'managed decline' of the Category D villages in County Durham if you want to see the destruction centralised planning can wreak on local communities. https://redhillsdurham.org/the-story-of-category-d-villages-and-lyr/
I'd advocate strongly for focusing on local communities and their needs. A community doesn't have to be a shiny powerhouse of new roads and tower blocks. We have people working locally who don't want to work more than 16 hours a week because it affects their universal credit. So that might be a place to start.