Economic independence for women 2005-04-08

The Irish social welfare system, which is based on a "male breadwinner" model, reinforces the notion of women as adult dependents, rather than as individuals entitled to payments in their own right.

Furthermore, the social welfare system fails to give adequate recognition to women's unpaid caring work. The consequences of this failure are the higher-than-average risks of poverty experienced by certain categories of women who are, or have been, engaged in caring work for long periods of time, especially lone parents and older women.

The launch of the "Brown Envelope Campaign" (May 2005) will see women from all over Ireland, travel to Dublin to hand-deliver thousands of letters, signed by individuals from all over the country, to Minister Cowen at the Department of Finance. The letters outline the changes that are urgently required.

The Campaign is calling for a reformed social welfare system that will promote women's economic independence: treating women as independent adults so they have direct access to social welfare payments such as pensions; recognising unpaid care work as "work"; supporting and enabling part-time work and recognising diverse work patterns.

The "Brown Envelope Campaign" is grounded in the very real and genuine experiences of our grandmothers, mothers, sisters and daughters in accessing social welfare payments in Ireland.

During the month of April, the NWCI is calling on individuals and organisations around the country to join the campaign and gather signatures (Contact NWCI on 01-8787248). People can sign the letter online on: www.nwci.ie/swr_bec.html.

Joanna McMinn

Director, NWCI