Women's Views on News |
| EU campaign pushes for equality in the home Posted: 01 Jul 2015 02:10 AM PDT
Damn that pesky European Union. If it isn't trying to legislate on square bananas it is interfering in our household chores. Or, this is what the mainstream press would have us believe. Members of the European Parliament recently issued a report stating men should do half of all the housework. Cue foaming-at-the-mouth outrage in the press. According to what was reported, this proposal seems heavy-handed at best and ludicrous at worst. It is difficult to see how the European Union could legislate for domestic duties without installing 1984-esque monitoring devices in the cleaning cupboard. After all, some may argue that the European Union (EU) as a whole has more urgent issues to content with, such as mass unemployment, or how to deal with the waves of refugees and economic migrants fleeing the Middle East and North Africa. But despite the maniacal headlines about overzealous EU technocrats dictating our home lives and filling our kitchens with rules, regulations and non-bendy cucumbers, the report on the EU Strategy for equality between women and men post 2015, put forward by the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality, is actually quite broad with a focus on addressing equal pay. So what has this got to do with dirty dishes? Well, the section of the original report that has been picked up by the media is as follows: The Committee 'stresses the importance of flexible forms of work in allowing women and men to reconcile work and family life, provided the worker is free to make the choice, and instructs the Commission to coordinate and promote exchanges of best practices; stresses in this connection the need for awareness campaigns for the equal division of domestic work and care and nursing.' That's it, there. The Committee recommends that the European Commission encourages equal division of labour in the home as best practice. So we won't be opening the fridge to see faceless technocrats monitoring our cooking and cleaning habits. We won't be forced to fill in EU time sheets on who does what in the home. There will be no custodial sentences for men who refuse to do the hovering or change dirty nappies. But this isn't just a case of who does the washing up after dinner. A 2013 study from the European Social Survey showed that in the UK, 70 per cent of all housework is taken on by women, and around two-thirds of all housework is done by women even if they work over 30 hours per week. Furthermore, many women work part-time after having families. Often the astronomical cost of childcare means many women become 'stay-at-home mums' and drop out of the workplace altogether. In fact, a recent report by Gingerbread and the Child Poverty Action Group states that rising childcare costs are frog-marching families into poverty. With regards to this, the report recommends that the European Commission 'draws attention to the fact that, despite the EU funding available, some Member States have made budget cuts that are affecting the availability, quality and costs of childcare services, with the subsequent negative impact on reconciling family and working life, which particularly affects women.' These are all quite reasonable suggestions that would, if implemented, benefit the economy as a whole. Given that the woman's role as housekeeper is so deeply ingrained in our culture perhaps this could go some way towards changing the cultural mindset and bringing gender equality a few steps closer. Cue foaming-at-the-mouth outrage in the press…  |
| A return to Suicide Sundays in Hastings? Posted: 01 Jul 2015 01:09 AM PDT
Hastings Council has told #lovekitchen that, after over 4 months of feeding, clothing and supporting homeless people, it must stop, as the council thinks it is bad for tourism! Please sign the petition asking the council to allow Love Kitchen Hastings to continue to have a regular stall in Hastings town centre to feed and clothe homeless people. Chris Oliver, founding member of Love Kitchen, has been in conversation with Hastings Council over the last few week. “At first they wanted to move us down into an alleyway where we "would not be seen". I negotiated with them to use the upper circle outside Poundstretcher,” he explained. “Today they turned up and told us that if we continued we could face prosecution as we did not have a Street Trading Licence. They then said we would not receive one anyway. “They said that we were also breaking food safety laws but have not explained exactly what is required. “If we get shut down then I fear that many regulars will not eat on Sunday. “It has been referred to as Suicide Sunday which is why we come out this day.” Love Kitchen Hastings was set up by local people in February 2015, after being inspired by Love Activists London, who, over Christmas 2014, occupied a bank in the heart of the West End of London, to shelter, feed and clothe homeless people and highlight the growing issue of homelessness. Since austerity has been brought in, levels of poverty and people being made homeless have risen to levels not seen for decades. Now the government plans to make homelessness an even bigger issue, with £12bn of welfare cuts looming and a ban on anyone under 25 receiving any housing benefit. Which will mean that more and more people will need the support of groups such as Love Kitchen Hastings. Hastings Council was elected by the people of Hastings and should actively support Love Kitchen Hastings and its objectives – to feed and clothe the homeless. Many people all over the UK have also set up Love Kitchens, and Brighton Love Kitchen for example is in the heart of the city and has not been stopped. Love Kitchen member Zeeta Mcbrine said: "I am just shocked at the lack of compassion and support the council have given us. "We are all human and need the same basic things to survive in this world. Hastings council have already let these people down by allowing the system to discard them onto the streets. "The council have a duty of care and they have failed each and every one of the people whom come to us, it is now the communities chance to succeed where the council had failed. "There are many Love Kitchens around the UK that are fully supported by their local councils and I cannot see any reason other than ignorance as to why Hastings Council have taken this unfair and unwarranted decision to close us down and threaten us with prosecution." When asked why the action by Hastings Council to shut Love Kitchen down should matter to people, Chris Oliver said: "It would be difficult to count everyone it has helped. "The people that come up to the table have welcomed the support and some cases come up for the chance to be treated like a human for once. "Just being spoken to and listened to as normal person is something that many miss out on." Please support Love Kitchen, Hastings and help change Hastings Council's mind. Please share and sign the petition. And if you can, come down to Hastings and show your support this weekend, on 5 July.  |
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