WRC have made a statement in support of the campaign to save the Women’s Library in London:

“WRC supports the campaign to save the Women’s Library in London. We want to see this important historical resource for women maintained and developed as an archive of women’s and feminist history as well as providing a women-only meeting and event space for women and women’s organisations. These spaces are increasingly being removed and marginalised and we must not lose another example of women’s collective action and herstory which can inspire future generations.”

Find out more about the campaign here.

A lot of people are having a difficult time in the recession – and pregnant women and new mums are getting a particularly hard time of it.

A whole raft of maternity benefits have been axed or restricted. The Health in Pregnancy Grant, Sure Start Maternity Grant, Child Benefit and Tax Credits are all affected, leaving women with less money at a time when they really need it.

We are hearing more reports of employers unfairly – and unlawfully – forcing women out of their jobs. Before the recession, 30 000 women each year lost their jobs because of pregnancy discrimination and the situation is getting worse.

The Government’s plans for changes to maternity and parental leave risk taking us backwards on gender equality. We are seeking to influence these policies to get the best possible outcomes for parents and their babies.

At the same time, frontline NHS maternity services are being cut.

This has to stop. The Valuing Maternity campaign is calling for Government to champion pregnant women and new mothers, not make life more difficult.

The campaign calls for job security for pregnant women and new mothers, maternity and parental leave that promotes real equality, and services to support a safe and healthy pregnancy.

The Valuing Maternity campaign involves more than a dozen unions, women’s organisations, parents’ groups and advice services. This broad-based engagement reflects widespread concern about the situation of pregnant women and new mothers.

Anyone with an interest in fair treatment of new mums are urged to sign up to the campaign.

Valuing Maternity are collecting women’s stories about their treatment at work. Women can use an interactive tool to rate their employer’s compliance with the law. They want to hear what is happening to maternity services locally.

You can also follow Maternity Action on Twitter and spread the word using the hash tag #valuingmaternity.

Great to see the New York Times picking up on the story of the impact of the cuts on women’s orgs - Women’s Resource Centre, Eaves, Women’s Aid and Refuge were all quoted in Katrin Bennhold’s excellent piece.

The story, it seems, is going global …. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/18/world/europe/18iht-letter18.html?pagewanted=1&ref=world

As Budget 2012 announcements are taking place in the House of Commons today, women’s groups call for a feminist budget.

Read the article in full on the Women’s Views on News website.

‘The Women’s Budget Group said in their briefing released last week that Plan A has failed and it’s time for ‘Plan F’, a feminist plan for economic recovery.

The charity campaigning for equality between women and men, the Fawcett Society, also released a briefing on Monday condemning the impact of the Chancellor’s austerity measure on women and calling for greater equality.

The Chancellor George Osborne is making his 2012 budget announcement today amid speculation that he will seek to cut child benefit for those who pay the 40p tax rate and reduce the 50% rate of income tax for the highest earners.

The Women’s Budget Group budget briefing argues the Chancellor must maintain the 50% tax rate and tighten tax loopholes. This will provide billion-pound savings, and introduce a financial transactions tax that can help subsidise social and child care.’
 

The Fawcett Society has today published a new briefing which brings together all the available evidence on the impact of cuts on women.

Ahead of the Coalition Government’s third budget, ‘The Impact of Austerity on Women’ considers the many different policies being pursued by the government in the name of reducing the deficit, and reveals the true impact of such measures on women - and finds that austerity is ‘reversing equality’: http://fawcettsociety.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=1267

The Women’s Budget Group (WBG) warns of ‘six more years of austerity that will further undermine gender equality’ in their response to George Osborne’s Autumn Financial Statement. ‘The Impact on Women of the Autumn Financial Statement’ report points out that the coalition government’s policies have already had a negative impact on women and have led to the loss of jobs, income and services.

The response from WBG calls for a Plan F - a feminist alternative economic strategy that drives social and economic recovery through measures that support gender equality and improvements in women’s day-to-day lives.

You can read ‘the Impact on Women of the Autumn Financial Statement’ report on the WBG website.