Media round-up: May 2018

Date Posted: Sunday 19th August 2018

Who's been talking about our work this month?

careEarly Education and ChildcareInvestmentSocial CareSocial Infrastructure

We look back at some of the press coverage received over the past month, which included references to work we’ve done into investing in the care economy, and costing and funding for universal free childcare:

Women of Britain – it’s time to make sure our voices are heard
The New European, 8 May 2018

“Brexit poses the greatest modern-day threat to women’s rights and gender equality policies in the UK”, Professor Roberta Guerrina, Head of Politics at the University of Surrey reports in a recent gender study. Such findings are further confirmed by reports from the Women’s Budget Group and Fawcett Society.”

The economic impact of Brexit on women
The UK in a changing Europe, 14 May 2018

“So although we cannot predict with certainty what the gendered impact of Brexit will be, we can be certain that there will be a gendered impact. The UK government must carry out equality impact assessments, not only of any future deal with the EU, but of trade deals with other countries if these impacts are to be avoided.”

The answer to Britain’s productivity crisis? Meghanomics
The Guardian, 23 May 2018

“Development has said the cost of childcare as a share of wages is higher in the UK than in any other rich developed nation. As a consequence, many women take the decision to look after their young children rather than return to work.

There is an obvious solution to this problem – a nationwide system of universal free childcare that would start from when a child is six months old. On the face of it, this would be an expensive commitment, although the Women’s Budget Group says it would pay for itself.”

 Making the budget a more transparent, user-friendly publication
The Mandarin, 29 May 2018

“Gender equity is perhaps the most discussed aspect of social justice in the community today. It is odd how little attention it has received from economic policy-makers. On gender, the budget contains roughly zero.

As with distributional analysis by income, the budget should provide quantitative information on the varying impact of budget policy measures on women compared to men.”

My five next steps to equality
The New European, 30 May 2018

“The excellent Women’s Budget Group has calculated that investing 2% of GDP in the caring industries would generate up to 1.5 million jobs in the UK, compared to 750,000 for an equivalent investment in construction.”