Women worst hit by public service cuts

Working women in the Borough of Rochdale will be amongst the hardest hit by threatened cuts in public services, according to a new TUC survey.

Two out of every five women who are in work in Greater Manchester – 40.21 per cent, or 224,273 of the total female working population - are employed in serving the public in the NHS, schools and the caring services.

If these public services are cut as a result of the bankers’ recession, it is working women who will pay the price, say the North West TUC in a grim warning to co-incide with International Women’s Day (8 March).

The survey of women working in public service has been carried out by the North West TUC as part of ‘Proud to serve the public’ - its campaign to protect and promote public service.

Most at risk amongst the Greater Manchester local authority areas are women in Bury where public services employ 16,374 women – 49.0 per cent of the total female working population in the borough. Next is Oldham, where public services employ 16,805 women - 44.1 per cent of the female working population.

Tameside has 14,735 women working in public service (43.3 per cent of the female working population); Salford has 23,901 women working in public service (41.4 per cent); Rochdale has 14,141 women working in public service (41.1 per cent); Bolton has 21,751 women working in public service (40.7 per cent); Wigan has 18,639 women working in public service (39.8 per cent), Manchester has 60,188 women working in public service (38.4 per cent); Stockport has 22,578 women working in public service and Trafford has 15,161 women working in public service (27.4 per cent).

Overall in the North West, public services employ more than 600,000 women (618,129 or 41.5 per cent of all female employees).

The survey results are based on the latest data from the Annual Business Enquiry Employee Analysis, 2008 from the Office of National Statistics.

NW TUC Vice-chairwoman Lynne Morris, an official with the public services union, UNISON, whose membership is 70 per cent women, said: “The simple truth is that if public services are slashed now, as some politicians and pundits are demanding, it will be women who will suffer most.

“It is women’s jobs which are most on the line as a result of this bankers’ recession.

“Redundancies will obviously hit public services very hard – that’s the first thing.

“But with more women facing the dole queue, there will be a knock-on effect on their children and their family life as well as the health and welfare of their local communities, where women still take the lead role.

“How some politicians can call for immediate cuts in services and then try to portray themselves as the party of the family is beyond me.

“Cuts damage the services public servants are proud to provide and they harm women, children and their families most. Public service cuts risk putting back the cause of women’s rights – and that is a terrible prospect today, when we are celebrating International Women’s Day.”