Support services for women are under threat from an unprecedented level of public spending cuts, with many organisations losing staff, reducing services or closing altogether.
In May 2017, the Women’s Resource Centre published their analysis of the impact of austerity on women’s voluntary and community organisations (pdf) across the UK.
The WRC report gathered evidence to demonstrate how far the cuts have destabilised the women’s voluntary and community sector.
It found that:
- Where organisations had experienced decreases in funding during the last financial year, over half (51%) had decreased staff by making staff redundant. Almost half (47%) had made cuts to staff hours
- The survey results suggest that when funding is cut, women’s organisations prioritise their front line work and are more likely to make cuts in networking (44%), campaigning and lobbying (40%) and research (38%)
- 39% of survey respondents made a direct correlation between austerity measures and welfare reform and the staggering increase in demand for women’s services