Workplace Report May 2022

Equality news

Women ‘left in lurch’ by spring statement

Women’s Budget Group director Mary-Ann Stephenson has condemned chancellor Rishi Sunak’s spring statement for “leaving women in the lurch” and targeting “support at the better off at the expense of those who need support most”.


Stephenson said that, while millions of people are being pushed into poverty by low incomes and rising prices, it is women who will be hardest hit, having been at the sharp end of government policies for over a decade due to austerity and the pandemic.


“Rishi Sunak’s statement focused on ‘security for hard-working families’, but he offered no real help for the poorest families, who are facing a real terms cut to social security,” said Stephenson. “This includes low paid workers, and people who can’t work at all, including many women who perform unpaid care, pensioners, and disabled people.”


Government cuts to National Insurance and fuel duty will help the richest more than the poorest, said the group, while Sunak’s promised tax cut will disproportionately benefit better off men.