In this essay I am going to address female poverty, focusing on gender inequality of pay and how this leads women into poverty. I am going to look at this issue through a Social Democratic lens. I will analyze: the impacts of poverty on women, local, national, and global policies on the pay gap, and show my understanding of social justice and the importance of collaboration.
Poverty researchers commonly define poverty in relative terms as, “having insufficient resources to meet socially recognized needs and to participate in the wider society” (Lister, 2004:04). Within Scotland, “20% of people were living in relative poverty after housing costs in 2015-18” and overall, this rate continues to rise (Scottish Government, 2019).
My rationale for choosing female poverty is, that it is a current issue with women in the UK being more likely to live in poverty than men with 21% of women, compared to 19% of men in 2016-17 living in poverty (Women’s Budget Group, 2018). This has led to the popular term ‘feminization of poverty’ which describes the disproportionate percentage of the adult poor who are women (Goldberg, 2010). This is a social injustice that often leads to women facing other hurdles like social exclusion, bad housing, and a decrease in mental and physical health (Ridge & Wright, 2008:140).
One major issue that leads many women into poverty is the gender pay gap. This is the difference in earnings between men and women (Heery & Noon, 2009). The gender pay gap in full-time work was 8.6% in 2018 (ONS, 2018). One theory that supports this view is Socialist feminism which draws upon many concepts found in Marxism; this is the idea that we live in a Patriarchal society in which “males dominate and exploit females. The patriarchal system refers to the principles, regulations, and structures of male domination” (O’Donnell, 1997).
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Governments throughout the world have recognized the gender dimension of poverty and implemented policies. Social democrats typically regard this as vital for establishing a more equitable society. Working on closing this pay gap is an example of becoming a more distributive society with resources being more fairly allocated. This is Distributive justice, which is about, “fairness in what people receive, from goods to attention” (Changing Minds, 2019). This links with Social justice, equal worth, rights, and opportunities for all (Ledwith, 2005:xv).
On a global level, gender inequality is a relevant issue being embedded into international human rights law. Goal five of The United Nations General Assembly’s 17 global equality goals for 2030 is ‘Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls’ including new laws that decrease female poverty (United Nations, 2015). This is important as “the concept of human rights is central to the poverty debate” (Ledwith, 2005). At a National level, the government has put a clear focus on gender inequality in terms of pay. Policies have come in, including the Equality Act 2010, legally protecting women from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society, including equal pay, and the legislation that all organizations with over 250 employees now have to disclose their gender pay-gap data (GOV.UK, 2015). Another legislation, The Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations (2000), was introduced to give people on part-time contracts, “comparable treatment to people on full-time contracts who do the same jobs” (legislation.gov.uk, 2000). Also, the minimum wage is set to increase by 2020 to over £9 from £7.20. These regulations help female poverty as women are often in part-time and minimum wage work (ONS, 2019). Scotland has introduced their ‘gender pay-gap action plan’ to make the country fairer for women, reducing female poverty through tackling issues surrounding female earnings including employment, leadership roles, childcare, education, and training/promotion (Scottish Government, 2019). Finally, at the local level, in Dundee, there are numerous CLD projects that are promoting gender equality, by working to challenge gender norms. This creates a generation of young individuals that sees everyone as equal and that young women grow up to fight against the pay gap and glass ceiling. These projects include Dundee International Women's Centre and Dundee Women’s Festival (Dundee’s Women’s Aid, 2019).
To lower female poverty services working with women need to work collaboratively using an anti-poverty practice that promotes gender inequality as “closing the gender pay gap in Scotland will require collective action” (Scottish Government, 2019). An example of partnership working is, the Scottish Government’s ‘Gender Pay-Gap Action Plan’ working with members from Equality & Human Rights Commission, Equate Scotland, Engender, etc., who are promoting gender equality (Scottish Government, 2019:60). This collaborative practice is key to reducing poverty.
In conclusion, women are being forced into poverty by gender inequality which is unfair pay. Policies and collaboration are vital in creating a fairer society through Distributive Justice. However, more needs to be done to lower female poverty and be up there with the Nordic countries that have the lowest rates of inequality (Norden, 2015). An example of this is Iceland’s progressive childcare policies (World Economic Forum, 2018).
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