The March of the Undecideds? Scottish Women #indyref
Another Post from A Women’s Place
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/all-about/west%20dunbartonshire
Recent polls suggest that a woman’s place is rather further from the ballot box than is good for them ahead of September’s independence referendum. By all accounts, they could be spending more of their precious time studying political form and making up their minds. While some claim that women voters hold the key to Scotland’s future if they turn out to vote in equal numbers to men, other surveys suggest women are among the many ‘undecideds’. Cue some old chestnuts: women are not natural risk takers, are more pessimistic, don’t like rocking the boat, are worried about the future, are unable to make up their minds….blah blah. More childcare ladies? Are women being offered anything more than the same old same old?
Women are skilled commanders of perpetually rocky boats. The work they do is invisible until it stops, their unpaid contribution to the Scottish economy rarely included in high-end budget calculations and economic forecasts. Without all that free childcare, parenting, cleaning, cooking, house-keeping, homework, elderly care, health care and transport services…..phew….the whole economy would probably grind to a halt. And that’s before women get to their paid work, organised around THEIR childcare responsibilities (not Daddy’s). Watching the clock, afraid to miss the school bell they have probably done the food shopping in their lunch hour. Ask any woman. One glich in the system – a sick child unable to go to school that day or that 8.30 meeting your boss insists you attend – and the whole system crashes.
Scottish women may be aye working, but they are making up their minds. With many turning out to local meetings, those without babysitters are on social media or blogging, chipping in their tuppenceworth when the weans are in their bed. Doing nothing is not an option – positions are being considered.
Scottish women still have a long way to go in the equality stakes, there are acres of unequal territory still to cover and the politicians need to know it according to Engender (http://www.engender.org.uk/). Women are listening for proposals which acknowledge the immense value of their contribution to keeping Scotland working, learning and healthy and to mothering the future workforce. Tangible proposals for a more equal future can transform indecision. Women need a hand – politically, economically and practically – More childcare isn’t the half of it.
GlasgowAnni 