TOGETHER NUBELT TO FIGHT AND EVERY STREE 4700 KIDS 500 NURSER PLACES =MISER -700 KLUS T0O NURDEK PLACE: = JOY Photo: ANDREW WIARD (Report)
LIST MOKE 14I0 NOINURSER supperi LESS UT MUPTERIE A WOMAN'S TO WORK Working Women's Charter supporters join Islington picket against the cuts * In 1973, the Tories introduced cuts of £1,350 million in spending on the welfare state.
ernment imposed further cuts amounting to £900 million. * In 1973, only £9 million was spent on nursery education - of 4 million children under school age, only 40,000 managed to get placed in nursery schools. * In 1970, ap to £10,000 a day from NHS funds was spent on tranquillisers - mainly for women. The figure today is undoubtedly much higher. * Overall unemployment rose between November 1973 and May 1975 by 65 per cent unemployment rose by 89 per cent in the same period. Background It is against a background of facts like these that a London conference on women ane me cuis nas been caree for 28 February by the Working Women s carter campaign. particularly hit by cuts in social spending and by unemployment as British capitalism is thrown deeper into crisis. The Charter Conference will be an important step in ensuring that the fight against the attacks on working class liv* In January 1975, the Labour Govcancy.
- but female the home.
higher women ar OR KOS WOrK Women are used as a reserve labour force which can be drawn on as needed, At work many women sufter low pay and bad conditions. Courtaulds estimated in 191Z/13 that tneir pronts would have dropped from £68 million to £25 million if they had granted equal pay. This is but one example of the way in which women are doubly exploited, a - CesOEE the inadequacies of the Equal Pay Act - until they are given the equal right to work, with full state provision made for their domestic responsibilities.
because mey de less wen organisca women are often easier victims of redun•Emis is remrorcea Dy the ramonalisation that they don't need to work because they are not the 'bread winners" of the family, and their first place is in There are already nearly half a million women registered as unemployed (approx one third of total unemploymcht — buru you are mamnea, you are not allowed to receive unemployment Denen son realy mar saure s muci Mothers are nearly always the target of descrimination. Maternity leave is rarely guaranteed by employers; and where it does exist, fellow workers are often forced to take on the extra work load. Cutbacks in social expenditure have meant a decrease in the already limited number of nursery facilities, yet 37 per cent of all women responsible The justification for cuts in the welfare state is often that certain sectors are "unnecessary'. But unnecessary to whom? the NHS have meant that patients are often discharged from hospital carly, the waiting period for some operations can be several years, and abortion is only available to a limited ew. racmaes for la care of the elderly and handicapped are also totally inadequate. These have all added to the burden of women, some of whose responsibilities had previously been taken on by the welfare state The conference on Women and the Cuts' will be discussing how the economic crisis is affecting women both at home and at work; how women can be better integrated into the existing organisations figh ting the cuts (through the availablity of creches at meetings, etc); how links between the Working Women's Charter and campaigns against the cuts can be increased; and how these campaigns can take up the needs of women. This will be only a London conference (though visitors from elsewhere will be very welcome), but it is hoped to call a national conference on women and the cuts later in the year.