I was so pleased to see last weeks edition of the Stylist focusing on feminism. It is a word which has been somewhat of a taboo in recent years, and in its absence from social consciousness the progress of women has started to slip.

The government’s intention that women are to bare 70% of the deficit burden is a harsh wake up call for women. It demonstrates that the F-word is not something to shy away from, but something to cling to as we struggle to fight for equality.

We know that women in the majority own & earn less than men and each year the UK is slipping down the global equality league table. We now rank 15th behind the Philippines and Lesotho.

Yvette Cooper highlighted that 350,000 women working in the public sector will lose their jobs in the coming years compared to 150,000 men, and that this will have a further impact on women’s role in society. Women working part-time will be forced back into the home as they battle to justify child-care costs. Women are being ideologically driven back into the home to take on the caring responsibilities as part of Cameron’s ‘Big Society’.

We know that women are currently responsible for an overwhelming majority of domestic work, and carry out 82%, in comparison to their male partners. These measures do not just affect grown women but children and the vulnerable too. Women are already the main carers in the UK, and with budget cuts to social care, they will be expected to further their responsibilities. These cuts have a knock-on affect on our nation’s children, elderly and disabled, and will have an effect on child poverty in Britain, as well as limiting women’s opportunities…

Click through to read the rest.