Chwarae Teg - International Women’s Day Debates

Debate Guide

Introduction
This guide provides a selection of background information for each of the debate topics. The information is neutral and is being provided to all of the debate participants to help form opinions and views ahead of the debate itself.

Topic 1: Women Big Spenders – Low Earners

This topic looks at the role of women in the economy.

  • Women are now the most powerful engine of global growth
  • The increase in female employment has also accounted for a big chunk of global growth in recent decades.  Since 1970, women have filled 2 new jobs for every 1 taken by a man
  • Women are becoming more important in the global marketplace, not just as workers but as consumers, entrepreneurs, managers and investors
  • Women make around 80% of consumers’ buying decisions
  • In the US, 83% of all consumer purchases are bought or influenced by women, as are 94% of home furnishings, 91% of new homes, 89% of new bank accounts, 80% of DIY products and 60% of cars. Women own 53% of all US stocks and shares while female baby-boomers control US$7 trillion of American wealth
  • Nearly half of all women consider themselves to be ethical consumers
  • Women are the fastest growing online audience and particularly dominate in the 18-49 year old age groups.
  • 89% of women now have a broadband or wireless connection home, making the internet fit in at a time convenient to them and in the comfort of their own home.
  • 84% of women turn to the internet to keep informed
  • Over 6 in10 are now more likely to consult reviews written by other web shoppers before making a purchase
  • Over half of consumers said their online spending would either not be affected by the credit crunch, or they would actually increase their online purchasing

Topic 2: Where’s the Care in Career?

This topic examines women’s role as carers both today and in the future.

  • 96% of individuals work in an office because they have to
  • 80% of employees rate flexible working as the most attractive benefit an employer can offer
  • More than 50% of mums with children under 5 are back in work
  • The numbers of people aged 65 to 84 are projected to increase by 24% from 477,000 to 591,000
  • the numbers of those aged 85 and over are projected to increase by 29.0% from 74,000 in 2009 to 95,000 in 2019
  • About a third of all men and half of all women will develop the need for long-term care and support at some stage over the age of 65
  • Care is not a gender issue. Seven out of ten carers under 50 and 8 out of 10 carers aged 50 – 60 give up work to care
  • Over the next 30 years, the number of carers in the UK will increase from 6 million to 9 million
  • Three out of five is the number of people who will care for someone at some point in their life
  • There are 3 million working carers in the UK. Of these 1.4 million are men and 1.7 million are women (Opportunity Now)
  • 12.8 million is the number of working age parents with dependent children (Opportunity Now)
  • £962 is the annual amount saved by each lower-rate tax-paying parent making use of an employer childcare voucher scheme (Opportunity Now)
  • Increasingly, fathers are taking a greater role in caring for children. In the UK, fathers in two-parent families carry out an average of one-quarter of the family’s childcare related activities during the week, and one-third at weekends (Opportunity Now)
  • Women currently spend twice as much time on housework and on childcare as men (Opportunity Now)
  • Typical costs for a full-time nursery place for a child under two in Wales is £146 per week (Daycare Trust, 2009)
  • The typical cost of a full-time place with a childminder for a child under two in Wales is £150 a week (Daycare Trust, 2009)
  • The typical cost for an after school club is £41 a week in Wales (Daycare Trust, 2009)
  • The typical cost of a place for a child in a local authority-run summer play scheme is £63.06 a week in Wales (Daycare Trust, 2009)
  • The typical cost for Private, Voluntary and Independent-run provision is £102.25 in Wales (Daycare Trust, 2009)
  • Help with childcare costs is available through the tax system. The current average award through the childcare element of the Working Tax Credit is £65 a week. There is no extra help for parents with three or more children. (HMRC 2008 Child and Working Tax Credit Statistics)
  • The average gross weekly wage for full-time workers by residence in Wales is £444.90.  This compares with £488.70 in the UK.   (ASHE, 2009)

Topic 3: The Greener Sex?

This topic looks at women’s role in environmental sustainability.

  • 70% of the world’s poor, who are far more vulnerable to environmental damage, are women
  • 85% percent of people who die from climate-induced disasters are women

According to a climate change survey of over 500 women:

  • 84% of women compared to 64% of men are concerned about climate change
  • Women are also very concerned about the effects of climate change on future generations (85%), the poor (81%), and on plant, marine and animal life (81%), the impact of more flooding, drought and extreme weather (81%), water and food shortages (81%) and habitat destruction (80%)
  • 75% are apprehensive that government action to tackle climate change will not be taken soon enough
  • 97% of women do not think Government and industry are doing enough to tackle climate change
  • 86% think that a top priority should be to invest in more renewable energy
  • Another 86% think that manufacturers should be encouraged to design more environmentally friendly products
  • 81% think that manufacturers should have to set tougher carbon reduction targets
  • 85% of women think that there should be more green products or carbon labeling of goods
  • Another 85% think that environmentally friendly products should be made cheaper
  • 82% think there should be more government grants and incentives to reduce carbon emissions
  • 87% of women think that there should be more women’s involvement in UK government and 86% think there should be more involvement in international policy making, to find solutions to climate change
  • 79% of women think there should be more representation of women in industry boardrooms, scientific careers (78%) and MPs (74%) to address climate change issues from a women’s perspective
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