Working- class women on the frontline of cost of living crisis

IN 2020 research conducted by the Women’s Regional Consortium (WRC) described women as “shock absorbers” of ten years of Tory austerity and welfare cuts. Now, working class and poor women are the shock absorbers of the cataclysmic cost of living crisis. Working class women with low incomes are bearing the brunt of this crisis, and are at the forefront of a fightback against it.

Women are more likely to be employed in part-time work due to caring responsibilities. This, coupled with the fact that women head 91% of single parent households means that they are more likely to be partially or fully reliant on benefits. A five week wait for Universal Credit payments is cited by WRC research as a key reason that many women in Northern Ireland are borrowing more than men, from banks and family members to loan sharks, including paramilitaries. As food prices have reached a forty year high, many women are now relying on foodbanks to feed themselves and their families, with many going without meals in order to afford other basic necessities.

An alarming two-thirds (66%) of survivors told Women’s Aid that abusers are now using the cost of living increase as a tool for coercive control. Increasingly, gender based violence is also contributing to housing insecurity for victims and survivors. Alternative accommodation for many is inaccessible, whether that be because of unaffordable private rent prices, oversubscribed shelters and hostels or growing waiting lists for social housing.

Frontline workers in majority female sectors like healthcare and teaching are now facing the reality of paying for the post-pandemic economic crisis. Staff are still subsidising a percentage of petrol costs while the price of fuel is at an all-time high; meaning workers are paying for the necessary care to their patients from their own pockets.

A NASUWT survey of women teachers found that 67% of female teachers are worried about the impact of a below inflation teachers’ pay award on their ability to meet their everyday living costs, with 36% saying they are struggling to make ends meet on a daily or weekly basis.

Working-class women are bearing the brunt of this crisis but they are also on the frontline of fighting against it. The strike action by majority women workforces in health and education has shown the power we have. Through organised and coordinated strike action and solidarity that the working class can mount a genuine alternative to systemic poverty, oppression and exploitation exacerbated by this crisis.