Is the coalition targetting women?

Graham_Devon

Labour MP last night accused the coalition of specifically targetting females with the cuts.

He stated cuts to child benefit, child tax credit, are all cuts aimed specifically at women, and the coalition have aimed to target women with such cuts.

This was on the newsnight special last night about middle class england.

Is he right to say what he did?

BlondeHeadOn

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Labour MP last night accused the coalition of specifically targetting females with the cuts.

He stated cuts to child benefit, child tax credit, are all cuts aimed specifically at women, and the coalition have aimed to target women with such cuts.

This was on the newsnight special last night about middle class england.

Is he right to say what he did?

Durr... so children are now the sole responsibility of women? When did that happen? I must have missed that.....

?????

1984ReturnsForReal_2

Perverts.............

WestonDave

Were they specifically targetted - probably impossible for anyone outside the coalition to say.

However if you target parents, then because more females are single parents with custody than men, you will naturally have a disproportionate effect on women - BUT - what I also think is impossible to answer is whether this is merely a rebalancing in terms of reducing disproportionate gains for parents (and therefore women). If child tax credit and benefit rises in the past were increased by more than inflation then of course this helped women more - in which case a cut may only partly offset previous gains rather than entirely do them down.

To be fair the child tax credit at least is based on family income, and therefore it is more likely to hit two parents families hardest because one parent (particularly one trying to juggle childcare and work) is statistically less likely to earn the sorts of levels of income needed for the changes to bite.

This is all law of unintended consequence territory - what may also happen is that because its no longer in peoples interests from child benefit purposes to earn marginally over £43k as an individual, couples may start to structure their work differently. E.g. the higher earner (typicaly the male) on £40k may try to negotiate reduced hours rather than a payrise, so that he can do some childcare, his partner can work, and thereby return to work sooner. That may have longer term impacts on the gender pay gap, if it becomes more likely that men in effect take career breaks and women less career breaks.

Niksan

Berlusconi wannabe's, pah, who says labour are out of touch, it's true that we have 90% single moms. It's bound to happen being in a steamy kitchen all day. At least it won't hit single dads though.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

Labour really will say anything. Except what their viable alternatives for dealing with the nation's finances are, of course.

ILW

If you wanted to target women, I would suggest a special tax on them terrible "celebrity" magazines. It could only make the world a better place.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

ILW wrote: »

If you wanted to target women, I would suggest a special tax on them terrible "celebrity" magazines. It could only make the world a better place.

Or a tax on astrology. Only women are consumers of that sort of guff.

ILW

Pink Cars.

abaxas

Equality is not based on things being fair, it is based on things being the same.

Labour has yet to understand this.

FTBFun

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

Labour really will say anything. Except what their viable alternatives for dealing with the nation's finances are, of course.

To be fair, the oppposition never come out with any decent ideas when its not a run up to an election, in case the incumbent government steals them I suspect.

I certainly can't remember that many policy announcements from the Tories in their time in opposition.