People’s help to the international women’s day: As long as poverty is still female?

Barbara Gross: With the establishment of a family, women often get behind and ultimately in the poverty

Vienna (OTS) – The International women’s day, the folk festival provides help President Barbara Gross: „About 100 years after the introduction of this ‚celebration day‘ is checked, the overwhelming majority of wealth, political Power, the media, science, technology and the military overwhelmingly by men. Women have moved on the game Board of the society, but mostly sideways. The structure of the Board and the rules of the game have remained Essentially the same.“ So women are trained well today, as never before, nevertheless, you get for the same work in less salary and are in decision – making and leadership positions are greatly under-represented.

While 14 percent of women are at risk from 20 years of poverty, for men from 20 to only 12 percent. The older, the greater the difference is: some 200,000 at risk of poverty people above 65 are almost 140,000 women – the equivalent of 70 percent! While households are at risk with a male main income earners to 11 percent of poverty, 22 percent of households with a female main provider. Women are affected accordingly, particularly a higher risk of Poverty, if you are, for example, single parents or widows.

The life of a woman cannot be an „Either-Or“

But how can that be when there are more women enrolled than men, the a-levels, studies with an academic degree and the employment rate of women increases? Barbara Gross: „The increasing employment rate of women is mainly due to part-time jobs. Reasons caring responsibilities for children or vulnerable adults are almost always. This leads to lower wages and salaries, in consequence of a reduction in pensions and other social risks, and, ultimately, often to poverty.“

The engine for more equality of opportunity is a good support infrastructure and fathers ‚ involvement, says the people’s President: „The demand for child-care facilities is not covered – especially for under three year olds and in rural areas. In addition, the employer must show the interior more open to the participation of fathers in childcare. Although there is a legal right, but it’s welcome, the fathers leave, not exceeding two months ‚Light-Version‘.“ Where, however, it is interesting that in the case of those men who give in to child out of time, the income situation after re-entry changed.

It is at any rate at the time of the Situation to take decisive steps to oppose and to society as a whole, as a socio-political level, says Barbara Gross concludes:
„We are talking about poverty and gender justice, then we must also talk about distribution. About distribution of work, resources (money and time). And of approaches and perspectives. Critical consciousness work must finally be used in conjunction with concrete measures.“

people of Austria
Melanie Wenger-Rami, MA
Press officer
+43 (0) 676 83 402 228
melanie.rami@volkshilfe.at
www.people the help.at/press