Engender blog
GUEST POST: The Cost of Childcare Crisis
Engender has recently hosted student placements from the MSc in Social Research at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Strathclyde Applied Gender Studies and Research Methods course. As part of their research outputs, the students have produced a series of blogs.
In this post, Marianne looks at how the cost of living crisis continues to disproportionately impact women, and how this is compounded by women's unpaid work and childcare responsibilities.
Milk, bread, electricity, petrol and even crème eggs: the cost of living crisis has seen drastic surges in prices of just about every household good. Everyone’s purses are feeling the strain, and heads are turning to the government to aid the struggling population.
Often unacknowledged in these debates, however, is the evidence that women are being disproportionately affected by the cost of living crisis over men. The economic instability of the country is affecting the lowest-paid of the population, of which women make up the majority, with 69% of low-paid and insecure jobs being held by women. Engender released their Women & The Cost of Living report in November 2022 that highlighted that this disproportion is related to the long-standing inequalities that ensure women make up the highest percentage of low-paid jobs, such as those in the care sector and unpaid care and domestic jobs at home. Based on this perhaps unsurprising revelation, Engender made a series of suggestions for the Scottish Parliament in order to tackle these inequalities.
GUEST POST: Reflections of the Student Placement Experience - An Insight into the Women’s Sector in Scotland
Today we're publishing the next in a series of blogs from recent student placements Engender has hosted from the MSc in Social Research at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Strathclyde Applied Gender Studies and Research Methods course.
In this post, Beth reflects on her experience of undertaking a research placement and the importance of considering urban planning policies through a feminist lens.
During the summer semester of my MSc in Social Research at the University of Edinburgh, I have been fortunate enough to experience completing my dissertation as a placement student with Engender. This placement has been invaluable, and I wanted to take this opportunity to reflect on this and maybe inspire others to gain experience of working within the women’s sector.
Cost of Living Crisis: The hidden cost of politics
As part of our blog series on the cost of living crisis, activist and campaigner Laura Moodie explores the hidden costs of participating in politics during the cost of living crisis, and the challenges this creates for achieving equal representation for women at all levels of politics.
For International Women’s Day this year, I had the joy of meeting with a group of fantastic Green women in the amazing Ayrshire Women’s Hub. Despite the dark and chilly night - with snow hinted at by the weather forecast - by the time the meeting started in earnest, we’d had to bring in extra chairs to fit everyone in.
GUEST BLOG: Pregnancy and parenthood in a pandemic
We've been working with the ALLIANCE and The Health and Social Care Academy to gather information about experiences of pregnancy and maternity services during Covid-19 from women across Scotland. Alongside our work, we're sharing a series of guest blogs reflecting on those experiences. Here, Madeline Cross explores her experience of becoming a first-time mum during the pandemic.
I'd like to start with my own caveat. In May 2020, I became pregnant for the first time, and because of that a 'pandemic pregnancy' is all I know. I'll never have a first pregnancy again, so I'll never really be able to communicate what was lost, or what was gained, just because of timing. I know that people have had harder experiences than I did, both during the pandemic, and at other times. And yet really, I don't know much about that at all. I only really know what happened to me.
GUEST BLOG: Pregnancy and bereavement during Covid-19
We've been working with the ALLIANCE and The Health and Social Care Academy to gather information about experiences of pregnancy and maternity services during Covid-19 from women across Scotland. Alongside our work, we're sharing a series of guest blogs reflecting on those experiences. Here, Kerry Walsh reflects on navigating pregnancy and grief alongside the challenges of the pandemic.
[Content Note: this blog discusses baby loss and mentions infertility, please read with care.]
Have you experienced any of the following during Covid-19?
- Pregnancy
- Miscarriage/Baby Loss
- Infertility
As I looked at this question on the survey, realising that I could tick every box, I reflected upon the past two years, and the care that I received during some of the most joyful, exciting, painful and challenging periods of my life.
RSSDownloads
Engender Briefing: Pension Credit Entitlement Changes
From 15 May 2019, new changes will be introduced which will require couples where one partner has reached state pension age and one has not (‘mixed age couples’) to claim universal credit (UC) instead of Pension Credit.
Engender Parliamentary Briefing: Condemnation of Misogyny, Racism, Harassment and Sexism
Engender welcomes this Scottish Parliament Debate on Condemnation of Misogyny, Racism, Harassment and Sexism and the opportunity to raise awareness of the ways in which women in Scotland’s inequality contributes to gender-based violence.
Gender Matters in Social Security: Individual Payments of Universal Credit
A paper calling on the Scottish Government to automatically split payments of Universal Credit between couples, once this power is devolved to the Scottish Parliament.
Gender Matters Manifesto: Twenty for 2016
This manifesto sets out measures that, with political will, can be taken over the next parliamentary term in pursuit of these goals.
Scottish NGO Briefing for UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women
Joint briefing paper for the UN Rapporteur on Violence Against Women.
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