Wales’ leading gender equality charity, Chwarae Teg, is calling for action to quicken the pace of change to make Wales a gender equal nation.
Chwarae Teg’s State of the Nation report examines what progress Wales is making towards becoming a truly gender equal nation by examining the experiences of women in the economy, their representation and level of risk. As part of this year’s edition, Chwarae Teg have also produced a Five Year Review tracking trends over the past five years.
Since the first State of the Nation report was published in 2019 few could have foreseen the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and cost of living crisis. The full impact of these crises are still unclear but there has been one constant over the past five years – inequality.
While progress has been made in some areas which should absolutely be celebrated, this progress is in many ways quite marginal. We are yet to truly shift the dial in many areas.
Since 2019, we have seen the gender pay gap close slightly to currently stand at 11.3%. More women are now in employment, a smaller proportion are economically inactive due to looking after the family or home, and the proportion of women working part-time has reduced. But women remain less likely to be in work than men, more likely to be out of the labour market due to caring responsibilities and earn less than men. For women with additional protected characteristics, these outcomes are even worse.
Sadly, women’s level of risk seems largely unchanged. Having an accurate picture of the prevalence of violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence remains a challenge. But what we can see is that we are making little progress in eradicating violence against women, and specialist services are under immense pressure in the face of growing demand and the cost-of-living crisis.
This year, State of the Nation is being published in the midst of the cost-of-living crisis. A crisis that is already disproportionately impacting women, particularly those from an ethnic minority, disabled women and women on low incomes. This is not an inevitability, but the direct result of the persistent inequality that the State of the Nation reports bring sharply into focus.
Once again, State of the Nation reveals how characteristics such as gender, race, sexuality, disability, class, age, and faith interact to produce often multiple experiences of disadvantage. In order to create a more equal Wales, we need to focus on the most marginalised first; the women who face the greatest barriers and disadvantage.
No single actor will be able to address the many complex and interrelated issues that produce this inequality. We need this to be a truly national mission, where government, business and individuals all play an active role in tackling inequality.
Chwarae Teg’s Policy and Research Lead, Natasha Davies and Research Partner, Dr Hade Turkmen, will be joined by Minister for Social Justice, Jane Hutt MS to discuss this year’s key findings in a webinar for stakeholders later this morning.
Natasha Davies, Policy and Research Lead, Chwarae Teg, said:
“We first produced State of the Nation in 2019 to provide a benchmark to track how well Wales was progressing towards becoming a more gender equal nation. Considering five years have now passed, to see such marginal change is extremely disappointing. In many areas we have not moved at all and in others we have backtracked.
“If our current pace is maintained, women in Wales are going to have to wait decades for true equality. For women from an ethnic minority, disabled, or on low incomes, the wait will be even longer.
“While the overall picture is not where we would want it to be, we must welcome a narrowing of the gender pay gap, the increase of women in employment, and the reduction of women who are economically inactive due to looking after family or the home. We have also seen more women MPs and councillors elected but this still remains far below 50%, and in the Senedd, we have gone backwards with fewer women MSs than we saw in 2019.
“Shamefully, there has been no clear decrease in women’s level of risk. Women continue to face greater risk of poverty, social exclusion and financial hardship. We continue to make little progress in tackling violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence with specialist support services facing even greater demand.
“A more equal Wales will benefit everyone. It will contribute to a more prosperous Wales, a more resilient Wales and a healthier Wales. No-one would underestimate the scale of the challenge in tackling inequality, but warm words must turn into action, and with increased urgency.
“Creating a gender equal Wales is a mission which should be owned by everyone who calls Wales home. And those in positions of power, in and out of government, have a responsibility to lead the way.”
