Austerity is damaging women’s mental health. Labour must act to improve it

Women experience mental health differently to men. They suffer higher rates of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). And the factors that cause these are likely to get worse because of the government’s austerity agenda. So if Labour is to continue being the party that works for women, we must focus on mental health provision, or risk losing ground in our fight for gender equality.

The Mental Health Foundation highlights how women are twice as likely to experience anxiety. One in four women will experience depression, compared to one in ten men. Women’s mental health is generally worse because of the caring work that they do for others, which causes them to disregard their own needs.

It is worth mentioning on World Mental Health Day that is only going to get worse with austerity. Women are more reliant on public services than their male counterparts. Using cuts to pay off our debt means that women have paid 79% of the deficit so far. With £12bn of cuts in the welfare budget to come, women will have to carry an even heavier burden.

Cuts to tax credits have hurt low earners and those caring for others, both groups which are disproportionately women. 27% of women earn less than the living wage, compared to just 16% of men. One in four women, compared to one in seven men, are in low paid or insecure work. The Institute of Fiscal Studies has warned that the government’s plans are going to make the lowest earners worse off. Poverty is a significant factor in poor mental health, and it will be women who the cuts impact the most.

9 out of 10 lone parents are women. A Nuffield Foundation Report in 2013 found that in the 1990s, before a Labour government, one in three single mothers had depression. This decreased with the introduction of Labour policies like tax credits and personal advisors, which enabled single mothers to manage employment and childcare. Welfare policies which incentivise more work hours (the core of the Tories’ agenda) deteriorate single mothers’ mental health significantly. The result of the Tory agenda can only be a decline in the mental health of single mothers.

A woman is raped every nine minutes. However, cuts to police, the NHS and Crown Prosecution Service mean that the state responses to this crisis are reduced. Currently, Rape Crisis predict that only 15% of rape survivors ever report to the police, and, of this, only a miniscule 6-7% are ever prosecuted. Additionally, local council cuts have removed funding for women’s services, meaning that 95% of charities that support women who experience violence are in danger. 100% of those which support black and minority ethnic women are under threat. When 20% of women develop PTSD after a traumatic event, compared with 8% of men, women’s mental health is going to suffer further with these cuts within a context of male violence.

Labour has always led when it comes to gender equality. We introduced the minimum wage, when low wages disproportionately affect women. Labour’s introduction of tax credits has rewarded domestic labour and care work, both of which are disproportionately done by women. We have been committed to all women shortlists, making us the party with the highest proportion of women MPs. However, after a decade of austerity politics, our fight for gender equality must include policies that support those with mental health issues.

Luciana Berger’s appointment to the new role of Shadow Minister for Mental Health should be welcomed. We should take note of her work because by the time Labour is in power, our fight for gender equality will need it.