International Women's Day #IWD - This Government Has Been A Disaster For Working Women

To me International Women's Day is a celebration of all we achieved and a reminder about how much more we have to achieve for women all over the world.  We should strive for better rights for women, better safety, education, healthcare and equality. When I hear about the cuts being brought about by the Tory/Lib Dem coalition Government  I really do wonder if they have lost sight of this.

My female friends, who are mothers like me, are facing some tough choices like food vs fuel and giving up work because childcare is no longer affordable.

Here is a Reading & District Labour Party press release by Women's Officr and candidate in Park, Rachael Chrisp: 

“This Government has been a disaster for working women” – Rachael Chrisp

Reading Labour Party Women’s Officer, and Park candidate, Rachael Chrisp has labelled the Tory-led Government “a disaster for working women” in a message issued to mark International Women’s Day.

Ms Chrisp points out that one of the first cuts George Osborne made was in help with paying for childcare, and goes on: “And then Mr Osborne froze Child Benefit, made women work longer before reaching pension age, and cut Tax Credits – 450 working women in Reading will lose £75 a week as from April 1^st because they are working less than 24 hours a week. And those that want to work longer hours are often being frustrated because the Government is offering big retailers the chance to use people on ‘work experience’ instead, people pushed into putting in the hours without getting the pay.

“Mr Cameron promised that this would be the most family-friendly government ever,” she says, “but as with so much else he promised it has been anything but.  The truth is that working women who did not cause the banking crisis are being made to pay for it.  There are twenty-two male millionaires in the Cabinet and only 49 women among 305 Tory MPs, so perhaps that’s hardly a surprise.”