Women need greater support through cost-of-living crisis, study suggests

Urgent calls have been made for both the UK and Scottish Governments to support women living on low incomes in Scotland through the cost-of-living crisis.

A female-only study that focused on women from diverse backgrounds north of the border found participants in low-paid jobs reported often missing out on social security support or cost-of-living payments, or free school meals, because they earn just above income thresholds.

Results showed they are suffering increasing financial hardship and are at risk of falling into further debt.

Participants reported concerns over not being able to pay their energy bills in winter, and that parents and carers are struggling to afford food and essential items like baby wipes, incontinence pads, and toilet roll.

The study was done by the Poverty Alliance and the Scottish Women’s Budget Group (SWBG) and funded by abrdn Financial Fairness Trust and Esmee Fairbairn Foundation.

It contained a report with 15 recommendations on how to better support women through the current cost of living crisis.

This included demands for the UK Government to uplift social security in line with inflation.

It also called for the Scottish Government to expand eligibility to sources of emergency support for women experiencing in-work hardship.

Other key recommendations included ensuring adequate incomes for all through a “caring social security system”; investing in preventative public services and in support and advice services to help people manage debt; and improving community amenities and services, ensuring that the support provided is free from stigma.

SWBG co-ordinator Sara Cowan commented on how the cost of living crisis is impacting “the vast majority of us”, but said that it “especially affects women in our society”.

She said: “Women are more likely to be poor, have lower levels of savings and wealth, and are less able to find suitable work or increase their hours if they’re in work often due to caring responsibilities that fall disproportionately on women.

“The women in this research talked about the impossible decisions they had to make to prioritise feeding their children, and whether or not to turn the heating on. Or not being able to buy things like baby wipes, incontinence pads, or toilet roll.

“The Scottish and UK Governments can help by increasing and extending the emergency support available to people, and working to put justice and compassion at the heart of social security and our public services.”

Fiona McHardy, of Poverty Alliance, said the financial support that has been made available so far by both UK and Scottish Governments to help with the cost-of-living crisis is “clearly not sufficient.”

“It is vital that the UK Government increases the value of social security benefits in line with inflation,” she said.

“Any cut to UK benefits will lead to unacceptable hardship for more women.

“Too many women in Scotland are in urgent need of support – Scottish ministers must leave no stone unturned in finding resources to support them during this crisis.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We have allocated almost £3 billion in this financial year that will help to mitigate the increased cost of living, including £1 billion in providing services and financial support not available elsewhere in the UK.

“We are investing the necessary funds to mitigate the UK Government benefit cap, as far as we are able within devolved powers, helping over 4,000 families with around 14,000 children meet their housing costs.

“We are also offering free school lunches during term-time to all pupils in primaries 1 to 5 – saving families on average £400 per child, per year. This will be extended further to include primary 6 and 7 pupils during the course of this parliament.

“We have doubled our Fuel Insecurity Fund to £20 million this year. We’ve also allocated £12.5 million this year to support free welfare, debt and income maximisation advice services and the £41 million Scottish Welfare Fund can also help people with additional costs.

“We will continue to urge the UK Government to use all the powers at its disposal to tackle this cost-of-living crisis on the scale required, including access to borrowing, providing benefits and support to households, VAT on fuel, taxation of windfall profits and regulation of the energy market.”

A UK Government spokesperson said: “The UK welfare system offers a vital safety net to millions of people, enabling them to support themselves and their families while building towards financial independence through work.

“This Government is determined to support those on low incomes, which is why we’ve delivered at least £1,200 of direct payments to families this year while also saving households an average of £700 this winter through our Energy Price Guarantee.

“The UK Government has also provided an extra £123 million for the Scottish Government to help vulnerable families at their discretion and this is in addition to the significant welfare powers they already have.”