Institute of Wellbeing :: What does the recession mean for equality?

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zoe Total Posts: Joined: Jan 2011	A few days before Christmas, the news that the UK Resource for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology would lose all its government funding was revealed. Ethnic minorities and women have suffered a great deal, due to cuts as the country struggles to stay afloat. Founding Director for the centre Annette Williams said, “It was a devastating blow, one interpretation is that equality organisations are seen as a boom-time nice to have. In times of reduced funding, it is equality activities that suffer.” The Women’s National Commission, a body that helped ensure that government decisions took women’s interests into account was named for abolition back in November. Campaigning group Fawcett Society responded by saying, “The abolition of the WNC will make it harder for government to devise informed policy that reflects the unique position of women in the UK.” Last month Devon County Council announced plans to reduce funding for domestic violence by one hundred per cent, and several other groups across the country are uncertain whether their funding will be renewed after April. As public sector jobs go, Labour Leader hopeful Dianne Abbott claimed that job losses in the public sector will have a great negative impact on black and ethnic minority groups. Abbott stated on a Radio 4 interview: “Black and ethnic minorities are predominantly employed in the public sector, these (anticipated public sector) cuts will fall disproportionately not just on women but on black and ethnic minority workers.” 32.6 per cent of employed black and ethnic minority workers are employed within the public sector. Its very sad that as a result of announced cuts, these equality organisations have been forced to seek survival funding from elsewhere. Unfortunately though statistics have proven that the public will be more inclined to donate to donkey sanctuaries than to women’s organisations. All this regression of equality support poses the question that if, “the hand the rocks the cradle rules the world”, why does the evidence suggests that when the chips are down the government places less value on womanhood? Posted on February 03, 2011 at 12:49 PM
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What does the recession mean for equality?

zoe

Total Posts:

Joined: Jan 2011

A few days before Christmas, the news that the UK Resource for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology would lose all its government funding was revealed. Ethnic minorities and women have suffered a great deal, due to cuts as the country struggles to stay afloat.

Founding Director for the centre Annette Williams said, “It was a devastating blow, one interpretation is that equality organisations are seen as a boom-time nice to have. In times of reduced funding, it is equality activities that suffer.”

The Women’s National Commission, a body that helped ensure that government decisions took women’s interests into account was named for abolition back in November. Campaigning group Fawcett Society responded by saying, “The abolition of the WNC will make it harder for government to devise informed policy that reflects the unique position of women in the UK.”

Last month Devon County Council announced plans to reduce funding for domestic violence by one hundred per cent, and several other groups across the country are uncertain whether their funding will be renewed after April.

As public sector jobs go, Labour Leader hopeful Dianne Abbott claimed that job losses in the public sector will have a great negative impact on black and ethnic minority groups. Abbott stated on a Radio 4 interview: “Black and ethnic minorities are predominantly employed in the public sector, these (anticipated public sector) cuts will fall disproportionately not just on women but on black and ethnic minority workers.”

32.6 per cent of employed black and ethnic minority workers are employed within the public sector.

Its very sad that as a result of announced cuts, these equality organisations have been forced to seek survival funding from elsewhere. Unfortunately though statistics have proven that the public will be more inclined to donate to donkey sanctuaries than to women’s organisations.

All this regression of equality support poses the question that if, “the hand the rocks the cradle rules the world”, why does the evidence suggests that when the chips are down the government places less value on womanhood?