According to research by the House of Commons library, measures announced in the comprehensive spending review in the UK will hit women twice as hard as men. Yvette Cooper, the shadow foreign secretary and shadow minister for equalities, says that cutting childcare and working tax credit will limit women’s career prospects. 70% of tax credits including childcare, working tax credits and other support is paid to mothers, as is 94% of child benefit. Some 60% of housing benefit, also due to be cut, is paid to women. “”Cutting back measures like childcare and working tax credit, when women still earn much less than men, will mean women have more limited career prospects.” Yvette Cooper expects that 300,000 women’s jobs in the public sector will go, with 65% of public sector jobs done by women. Women will also be more heavily affected by increases in public sector pension contributions.

Source:  The Guardian