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Guest blog: Childcare provision and the independence referendum (Indyref Thursday #3)

By Craig McAngus

This guest blog by Craig McAngus was originally posted on the Scottish Centre on Constitutional Change website. He is currently researching the implications of constitutional change for gender equality.

The 18th of September is fast approaching and the two main campaigns are stepping up their efforts to try and shore up their own vote whilst appealing to the undecided. One particular group that has been catching the attention of both the psephologists and the campaigns alike is women. Still more likely to be undecided, the women of Scotland have become a key group of voters that may yet hold the key to the result we wake up to (or stay up for) on the 19th of September. The Scottish Government has been accused by its opponents of trying to lure women into voting Yes with policy ‘bribes’ such as extended childcare and alleged ‘token gestures’ like bringing more women, namely Shona Robison and Angela Constance, into the cabinet. However, advocates of Yes argue that Scotland can become a more gender equal place after independence through measures such as ‘transformational’ childcare. However, little is known about what voters think about these issues.

Posted on August 7 2014 at 13:00

Tags: childcare indyref guestblog
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Scottish Labour's 'red paper'

The Scottish Labour party launched Together We Can at its conference in Perth last weekend. The document sets out its case for a ‘no vote’ in the referendum and the bones of its manifesto for the Scottish parliamentary elections in 2016.

References to gender touch on a range of issues: fair procurement, the care sector, childcare, equal access to sport in education, political representation and international development. In the main these are made in passing and are not linked to barriers to women’s equality or proposed solutions, however there are a number of noteworthy inclusions. Full extracts are pulled out in our 'gender edit' of the paper.

Posted on March 28 2014 at 11:50

Tags: equalrepresentation education childcare indyref
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