Impact of austerity

Since its election in 2010, the coalition government has introduced an unprecedented austerity package of public spending cuts to tackle a national deficit of over £120bn.

Women have undoubtedly been disproportionately affected by austerity measures – analysis of the government’s first spending review found that women would bear 72% of the proposed tax rises and benefit cuts. Rising unemployment, falling wages and cuts to benefits are pushing many women from being able to just about make ends meet into financial hardship and poverty.

Women’s voluntary and community organisations have also been hard hit by the cuts and are sometimes seen as an easy target for savings. The women’s sector has always needed to be innovative in working with limited funding and this will become even more important within an increasingly competitive funding climate.

This area of the website will give your organisation information and tools to stay one step ahead of the public spending cuts and policy changes that will impact on your organisation’s work, including:

• Facts and stats on the impact of the cuts to use in your lobbying work
• Briefings on upcoming austerity-related policies such as welfare reform

Tools you can use to challenge unfair funding decisions

Women and the Cuts 2012 is a briefing that reviews recent research on the impact of public spending cuts on women. As an update to the Women and the Cuts 2011 factsheet, the 2012 briefing takes a closer look at the upcoming policy reforms that could impact on the women’s voluntary and community sector, as well as highlighting the most up to date statistics that demonstrate the ongoing impact of the cuts on women’s lives.

Our aim in creating Women and the Cuts 2012 is to make it easier for staff, volunteers and supporters of women’s voluntary and community organisations to find statistical evidence that they can use to raise awareness of the disproportionate impact of the cuts on women.

October 2012

Factsheet: Women and The Cuts 2012 - Full executive summary

Factsheet: Women and The Cuts 2012 (pdf format)

Factsheet: Women and The Cuts 2012 (word format)

The Impact of Austerity Measures in the North East of England

In partnership with Women's resource Centre, the North East Women's Network has written findings and recommendations from an interim case study, which revealed that cuts to jobs and public services are having a particularly severe impact on women in the north east of England compared to those in other parts of the country.

The Impact of Austerity Measures in the North East of England