Emma Dawson’s latest column for The Guardian begins: “Most of the poor people in the world are women. In no country on earth are women economically equal to men, and Australia is no exception. Research from Acoss and the University of New South Wales last year showed that a higher share of people living in poverty in Australia are women. The experience of living below the breadline in our very wealthy nation is a gendered one, for reasons that are complex and intertwined. … At its heart is the simple fact that women do the lion’s share of caring for others. Caring is women’s work, and our society does not value women’s work.” The column goes on to lay out the statistical proof that poverty is gendered in Australia, and is well worth reading.
7 May 2019