Women’s Work: How Gender Equality Can Deliver Strong Local Communities
A joint paper with The Centre for Local Economic Strategies
WBG’s full response to the Spring Budget 2024
Analysis, UK Budget Assessments
In his opening statement in the 2024 Spring Budget, the Chancellor expressed confidence in the UK's economic trajectory, citing improved confidence in business and a turnaround in inflation and growth. However, this optimistic assessment is a stark contrast with the...
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WBG finds Government funding for early education and childcare falls short by £5.2bn
Mar 16, 2023 | Analysis, News, Press Releases, UK Budget Assessments
The Women’s Budget Group is very pleased to see the Government finally recognising the Early Years sector as essential infrastructure that underpins the rest of the economy. But the expansion of free hours to younger children must be properly funded, otherwise it...
Spring Budget 2023 Pre-Budget Briefings
Mar 2, 2023 | Analysis, UK Policy Briefings
Ahead of the 2023 Spring Budget, our briefings set out the impact of current policies, with an emphasis on the cost-of-living crisis. They lay out the existing policy and fiscal landscape and recommend measures to protect and improve living standards for economically...
Spring Budget 2023: Gender and Early Education and Childcare
Mar 2, 2023 | Analysis, UK Policy Briefings
Read and download the full briefing here The early education and childcare system in England is not working for children, parents, workers or the wider economy . The absence of flexible, affordable and quality early education and childcare is a huge barrier to...
Spring Budget 2023: Women and employment
Mar 2, 2023 | Analysis, UK Policy Briefings
Read and download the full briefing here. While employment levels have started to recover, households in the UK are experiencing their sharpest decline in living standards since records began in the 1940s, and many women returning to the labour market are finding...
Spring Budget 2023: Local government and gender
Mar 2, 2023 | Analysis, UK Policy Briefings
Read and download the full briefing here Local government provides or funds many services crucial to women and those they care for, including social care, schools, housing, domestic abuse services and transport. Many of these services provide care to children and...
Spring Budget 2023: Social care and gender
Mar 2, 2023 | Analysis, UK Policy Briefings
Read and download the full briefing here The crisis in social care didn’t start with the pandemic, nor with austerity. Even before the financial crash, underfunding meant increasing numbers of people with unmet needs, others paying catastrophic costs for their care,...
Spring Budget 2023: Social security and gender
Mar 2, 2023 | Analysis, UK Policy Briefings
Read and download the full briefing here Women are more likely than men to rely on social security for a larger part of their income because they earn less than men on average and are more likely to have disabilities and caring responsibilities, leaving them with less...
Spring Budget 2023: Health inequalities and gender
Mar 2, 2023 | Analysis, UK Policy Briefings
Read and download the full briefing here After a decade of austerity that saw real-terms funding growth at a record low and in the wake of a global pandemic, the NHS is facing significant pressures that are exacerbating existing health inequalities. The Autumn...
Spring Budget 2023: Taxation and gender
Mar 2, 2023 | Analysis, UK Policy Briefings
Read and download the full briefing here ‘As women are more likely to rely on and work in public services, they tend to benefit particularly from the public spending that tax can be used to finance.’ As income and wealth disparities rise, our public services are...
WBG Budget Representation 2023
Feb 3, 2023 | Analysis, Consultation Responses
Each year, HM Treasury consult civil society ahead of the Spring Budget. This year, as the cost-of-living crisis continues to bite, our submission focuses on investing in public services to restore living standards that have been eroded by inflation and falling wages...
Inquiry on support for childcare and the early years: Submission to the Education Select Committee
Jan 19, 2023 | Analysis, Consultation Responses
The Women's Budget Group submitted written evidence to the Education Select Committee's inquiry on "support for childcare and the early years". You can read our full submission here. Summary of WBG's written evidence: Early education and childcare is not working for...
The Gendered Impact Of The Cost-of-Living Crisis on Public Services
Nov 27, 2022 | UK Policy Briefings
A briefing published by the Women’s Budget Group warns against austerity 2.0 for public services. Access the briefing here. This is the fifth of a series of briefings on the gendered dimension of the cost-of-living crisis. Who loses from benefit uprating changes? A...
Misguided plans for Austerity 2.0 – WBG response to Autumn Statement 2022
Nov 25, 2022 | Analysis, UK Budget Assessments
Read our full response here. The financial turmoil from the last couple of months has resurrected calls for a renewed wave of austerity. But with the UK economy now officially in recession and households, businesses and public services facing the biggest rise in costs...
A Green and Caring Economy
Nov 10, 2022 | Analysis, Reports, UK Policy Briefings
UK Feminist Green New Deal Final Report A Green and Caring Economy by Rebekah Diski for the Women’s Budget Group Read the full policy paper here. The current economic system has delivered the intersecting crises of climate, ecological breakdown and...
Macrofinancial policies for a green and caring economy
Oct 20, 2022 | Analysis, Reports, UK Policy Briefings
UK Feminist Green New Deal Policy Papers Macrofinancial policies for a green and caring economy by Dr Maria Nikolaidi for the Women’s Budget Group Read the full policy paper here. The transition to a green and caring economy necessitates fundamental changes...
WBG’s response to the Chancellor’s statement 17 Oct 2022
Oct 17, 2022 | Analysis, News, Press Releases, UK Budget Assessments
A healthy economy needs a healthy population: The Women’s Budget Group warns against austerity, calling for vision and imagination to address the economic and energy crises Responding to the Chancellor’s statement today, Mary-Ann Stephenson, CEO said: “The Chancellor...
Who loses from benefit uprating changes? A gendered analysis
Oct 10, 2022 | Analysis, UK Policy Briefings
This briefing is part of WBG's series on the gendered impact of the cost-of-living crisis. See also: The Gendered Impact Of The Cost-of-Living Crisis on Public Services (November 2022) The Cost Crisis: a Gendered Analysis (September 2022) The income crisis – a...
An Inequality Budget Unfit for a Cost-of-Living Crisis
Sep 29, 2022 | Analysis, UK Budget Assessments
The budget presented by the Chancellor is a gamble on growth through tax cuts at the expense of a major increase in borrowing levels. An almost immediate plummeting of the pound and rise in interest rates will impact families via mortgage costs and eventual defaults,...
The Cost Crisis: a Gendered Analysis
Sep 5, 2022 | Analysis, Reports, UK Policy Briefings
Read the full paper here This is the third of a series of briefings on the gendered dimension of the cost-of-living crisis. The gendered impact of the cost-of-living crisis (March 2022) The income crisis – a gendered analysis (June 2022) The inflation rate for...
Inquiry on Post-Pandemic Economic Growth: UK Labour Market Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee
Jul 25, 2022 | Analysis, Consultation Responses
The Women's Budget Group submitted a response to the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee. You can find our response here. Summary of WBG's response: In the post pandemic economy, the Government must look to sure up workers’ rights and protections. This...
Sustainable lifestyle changes for a green and caring economy
Jul 7, 2022 | Analysis, Reports, UK Policy Briefings
UK Feminist Green New Deal Policy Papers Sustainable lifestyle changes for a green and caring economy by Rebekah Diski for the Women’s Budget Group Read the full policy paper here. Responding to the inequality and climate crises will involve rethinking the...
Trade and Health: a Gendered Analysis
Jun 27, 2022 | Analysis, Reports, UK Policy Briefings
Read the full paper here by Silke Trommer for the Women’s Budget Group This briefing, written for the Women’s Budget Group by Silke Trommer, University of Manchester, examines through a feminist lens how the UK’s trade policy agenda intersects with public...
The Income Crisis: a Gendered Analysis
Jun 23, 2022 | Analysis, Reports, UK Policy Briefings
THE INCOME CRISIS: a Gendered Analysis Read the full paper here This is the second a series of briefings on the gendered dimension of the cost-of-living crisis. Upcoming briefings will look at the impact of rising costs on women, and the impact of the crisis on...
Managing Risk Through Security: Social security’s contribution to tackling climate change and gender inequality
May 23, 2022 | Analysis, Reports, UK Policy Briefings
UK Feminist Green New Deal Policy Papers Managing risk through security: Social security's contribution to tackling climate change and gender inequality by Marilyn Howard for the Women’s Budget Group Read the full policy paper here. Social security is an...
Labour Market Changes for a Green and Caring Economy
May 23, 2022 | Analysis, Reports, UK Policy Briefings
UK Feminist Green New Deal Policy Papers Labour Market Changes for a Green, Caring Economy Read the full policy paper here. Our vision for a green and caring economy calls for an economy and society based around principles of wellbeing and care. This will be crucial...
WBG Full Response to the Spring Statement 2022
Mar 24, 2022 | Analysis, UK Budget Assessments
WBG's full response to the Spring Statement 2022 24 March 2022 - gendered analysis Download our full response here. This year’s Spring Statement took place against the background of a rapidly growing cost of living crisis. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is...
The gendered impact on incomes of two measures to tackle cost-of-living crisis
Mar 23, 2022 | Analysis, UK Budget Assessments
DOWNLOAD OUR NOTE HERE Two policy alternatives were being discussed to address the cost-of-living crisis from April 2022: Increase benefits in line with forecast inflation for Spring 2022 (7%) rather than by the September 2021 measure of 3.1%; Raise the threshold at...
Spring Budget 2022: Local government and gender
Mar 18, 2022 | Analysis, UK Policy Briefings
“Women and girls depend disproportionately on local authority services because they do most of the unpaid child/care work and therefore rely on local services to support themselves and their families. Women – particularly BAME and disabled women – have been seriously...
The gendered impact of the cost-of-living crisis
Mar 18, 2022 | Reports, UK Policy Briefings
Download the briefing here As we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, we are facing a major cost-of-living crisis. Experts have warned that the monthly inflation peak this spring could be as high as the 8.4% reached in 1991, and that prices in 2022/23 will be up...
Spring Budget 2022 Pre-Budget Briefings
Mar 15, 2022 | Analysis, UK Policy Briefings
Ahead of the Spring 2022 Budget, our briefings set out the impact of current policies, with an emphasis on the cost-of-living crisis. They lay out the existing policy and fiscal landscape and recommend measures to protect and improve living standards for economically...