Report highlights urgent need to address growing income inequality between women and men

Published: Friday, October 03, 2014

National Women’s Council of Ireland strongly welcomes the report by by the ESRI and the equality authority ‘The Gender Impact of Tax and Benefit Changes : A Microsimulation Approach’ which highlights the greater loss of income for women over the years of the economic crises.

“This confirms the analysis consistently put forward by the NWCI and reflects the experience of women and our members” stated Ms Orla O 'Connor, Director of NWCI.

“The report highlights the stark evidence that women within couples saw a 14% loss of income in comparison to a 9% drop for men.  While this is true for all income levels, it is no surprise to NWCI that the gap widens significantly for women on lower incomes who we know have been particularly affected by the erosion of social welfare payments, cuts to Child Benefit and reductions in wages and job security” stated Alice-Mary Higgins, NWCI Policy and Campaigns Officer  

“Another strong finding is the disproportionate impact that cuts to public sector pay have had on women.  NWCI have also highlighted the impact of the recruitment embargo on women's employment levels and the hardship caused through cuts to the public services which so many women rely on” continued Ms Higgins.

“The evidence in today's report, shows how critical a gender analysis of Budgetary choices are for women's equality and effective national decision making.  NWCI have long called for introduction of equality budgeting and welcome this micro-simulation research from ESRI as an important step towards that goal.  In our recent publication 'Budget Directions 2015' NWCI have also outlined a number of practical measures to address the disproportionate impact of austerity and recession on women” concluded Ms O Connor

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