Engender blog

Cost of Living Crisis: Gaps in support for women on low incomes in Scotland

As part of our blog series on the cost of living crisis, Laura Robertson from The Poverty Alliance talks about their recent report with the Scottish Women's Budget Group on the detrimental impacts on the lives of women living on low-incomes in Scotland caused by the crisis.

“I spoke to my friend who told me she has been starving and only eats at night. I have started doing that though it didn’t go well with me the first day, but I will get used to it.” (Idia, aged 35-44, lone mother and asylum seeker)

The cost of living crisis is having devastating impacts on people living on low incomes in Scotland. Research with 38 women affected by the cost of living crisis in Scotland published in November by the Poverty Alliance and the Scottish Women’s Budget Group reveals the devastating impacts on women living in a range of circumstances across Scotland. Our research found that women are facing deepening levels of poverty and hardship as they struggle to afford essentials. This blog examines gaps in support for women living on low incomes, reflecting on both the Autumn Statement and the Scottish Budget.

Delivering Equally Safe: Challenging and eradicating violence against women

To mark the annual 16 Days of Activism campaign, our Policy Officer for Engender's Delivering Equally Safe project, Hannah Brisbane, shares some background on our briefing for MSPs on the importance of primary prevention in challenging and eradicating men's violence against women.

We are currently in the middle of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence. This annual campaign runs from the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on the 25th of November until the 10th of December, which is Human Rights Day.

The cost of living crisis and women: read our new report

Today Engender has released a report setting out how the deepening cost of living crisis will have a devastating impact both on different groups of women in Scotland, and on women's equality as a whole. Covering issues including fuel costs, unpaid care, housing, women's safety, mental health and social security, the report details how marginalised women will be disproportionately affected by this latest cost of living crisis. We make recommendations for immediate action to ensure that Scottish Government policy and budgetary responses to the cost of living do not risk entrenching gender inequality even more deeply in Scotland.

Crisis after Crisis, women pay the price

Women, particularly those facing intersecting marginalisation, pay the price in times of crisis because there is very little safety net when the fault lines of deep inequality in the UK are exposed. This is largely due to of a gendered ‘crisis of incomes’ across the UK that ensures women do not have equal access to financial resources compared with men. The egregious impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has already placed women at greater risk of economic insecurity, and the current cost of living crisis will further exacerbate women’s existing economic inequality, pushing many into poverty.

Higher prices, lower income, less security

While many people across Scotland are experiencing hardship as a result of the cost of living increases, women are far more likely to take responsibility for spending on children and purchasing non-durable items like food and domestic products that are susceptible to price hikes during periods of inflation. Alongside these increased costs, the UK Government decision not to uprate Universal Credit in line with inflation mean that hundreds of thousands of people in Scotland will experience a real terms income cut of £570 per year. Households impacted by the benefits cap face even more severe losses. Women are the majority of those on Universal Credit and impacted by the benefit cap.

Women make up the majority of many groups with high energy needs, including older people, disabled people, unpaid carers, and those looking after children in the home, and are also the majority of those in temporary work and on zero-hours contacts in Scotland. Soaring energy bills for households and business will therefore have a disproportionate impact on women, both as the managers of increasingly tight household budgets, and as those first in line to face unemployment, underemployment or the negative mental health impacts associated with precarious work.

January 2022 - Policy Round Up

Each month we share a summary of the policy work Engender has been doing . You can find all of our latest briefings and publications here, or in the links below.