National Women’s Council of Ireland launch new publication, new website, new look

Published: Thursday, October 15, 2009

Next Monday, 19th October 2009, the National Women's Council of Ireland (NWCI) will launch 'Who Cares? Challenging the Myths about Gender and Care in Ireland', and will also unveil its new-look website, with a new womanly logo by designer Alison Burns.

The website features an exclusive poem from renowned Irish poet Rita Ann Higgins. 'The Darkness' was first performed at a public meeting to launch the National Women's Council's 'No Going Back' campaign against further cuts to women's groups.

The NWCI is delighted to be joined by Emma O'Kelly, RTE's Education & Science Correspondent and Award-Winning Blogger, Maman Poulet, aka Suzy Byrne who will speak at Monday's Launch.

'Who Cares?' explodes the myths and reveals the truth about caring in Irish society - women do 86% of the supervision of children and 82% of caring for adults - and it highlights the impact of care on women's lives, on their health, their employment prospects, and their pensions. Caring is rewarding - it is also exhausting and has hidden costs.
"Who Cares?" calls for change in society so that the sharing of care work can be more balanced between the sexes.

'The way in which care work is divided between women and men is so important' states Orla O'Connor, Head of Policy, NWCI. 'Fairly shared, both sexes have the opportunity to realise their full potential. However, women's disproportionate investment in care work generates substantial benefits for those they care for, but at a cost to themselves - women remain economically dependent and under-represented in decision making'.

The challenge, as the booklet states, is to find ways to enable women and men to provide and receive care as they choose. We would all be the better for it.

'It is fitting that the booklet is being launched on the website on Monday, as the NWCI is promoting the website as an important tool to help women to campaign for equality, at a time when it appears that many of the gains of the women's movement are being eroded by those in positions of power in this country,' she concluded.

Ends/

Contact: Ciara O'Shea, NWCI Communications Officer, 087 993 7663 / (01) 88 98 473

Editors Notes:

Some Care Statistics and Facts

• Over the course of a week, women do 86% of child supervision
• Over the course of a week, women do 82% of care of adults
• Over the course of a week, women do 80% of cooking
• Women comprise almost 70% of those in their thirties providing full-time care
• 3 in 10 reported that their own health had suffered because of care work
• Net childcare costs in Ireland are 45% of the average wage
• 8 in 10 of those working for less than 30 hours a week are women
• For men, having children has almost no impact on their employment rate
• More than 80% of male pensioners are entitled to the State pension, less than 60% of women are