Women Thinking Equality Scotland 2008

1. Women Thinking EqualityScotland 2008/9 Ageism and Equality Sue England

2. Women and ageism Ageism and gender? What is ageism�s most important aspect? Answer: It is the basis of the economic and financial structure of society AND its is profoundly gendered

3. Women and ageism Ageism? Bit of a claim.................... Consider two aspects: The lifecycle of work and economic activity The lifecycle of reproduction

4. Women and ageism Phases: Childhood Adulthood Old age One - Women�s lifecycle Two - Men�s lifecycle Economic theory says men�s life cycle is the only one, women�s is irrelevant/unstudied How do they differ in reality?

5. Women and ageism Women�s lifecycle Childhood - dependency and education Adulthood � unpaid work/care and dependency Old age � dependency (and unpaid work), frequently poverty

6. Women and ageism Men�s lifecycle: Childhood - dependency and education Adulthood � paid full-time work/providing for dependents/servants, savings and taxes Old age � retirement income and providing for dependents/servants Where does this take us? Unpaid/paid work......

7. Women and ageism Unpaid/paid work If women counted? caring/reproduction � women�s unpaid labour always to be free, always to be funded by real workers � men always a drain on the �real� workers financial capacity to form independent family unit not necessary for women

8. Women and ageism Unpaid/paid work paid work the economy, the only statistics and policy considerations to be considered redistribution (welfare state) can only come from the money provided by men�s work redistribution is secondary and charitable, at a push necessary to avoid political unrest e.g. Turner Report on pensions

9. Women and ageism How does money circulate through the economy/society? its paid for paid work and investment in profit making business (interest/dividends) paid workers/investors pay taxes taxes are husbanded (cough) - invested and disbursed by the state, under democratic control taxes/welfare are a drain on the �real� economy which is profit making ideally everyone looks after themselves and their dependents � yes, its a contradiction in terms

10. Women and ageism How does money circulate through the economy (cont�d)? The cycle is economically justified as it: keeps the economy expanding all members of society to survive as dependents or wage earners � no moral issue here its provides �new� workers and looks after the discard - the ill/the old each generation must be numerically �balanced� or increasing

11. Women and ageism How and why did the financial capital model try to alter this circulation of money � 1970�s to May 2008?? Argument - the cycle was defective taxes and government control of national assets damage the �real� economy which must grow, there is never enough growth/money the business/financial community should own and control all savings and invest them to make profits every penny under state control prevents profitable industrial and financial development, which stops us having enough money - to solve all our problems

12. Women and ageism How does financial capital model improve on this? Would supply enough money to solve �our� problems state security poverty inadequate monies for social benefits (funding the welfare state) pensions crisis intergenerational wars (children versus adults, in particular retired adults) environment (some people)

13. Women and ageism How did the financial capital model come into being? From Reagan - via Chile - to Turner Report Deregulation of financial sector and activities project completed Changing from state pensions systems to private pensions systems to funnel more monies into deregulated financial sector project not completed It was underway, but a small crisis (world depression) will (hopefully) intervene......

14. Women and ageism How would the financial capital model affect women (if completed) in reality? Sustains unpaid/paid work model How? Does not challenge this model in any way

15. Women and ageism How would the financial capital model affect women (if completed) in reality? makes women relatively poorer to men, even as more women have paid work excess income to needs is needed for financial self sufficiency - rare for women investment brings dividends/interest capital growth adds to earned income tax relief goes to richer in larger amounts, men are richer group

16. Women and ageism How would the financial capital model affect women (if completed) in reality? reduces money for welfare state lower taxes and tax relief remove monies from state system state has to fund present retirees by borrowing later - privately funded retirees, need no pension state has to use saved money to pay back borrowing � state no richer, but less real redistribution takes place

17. Women and ageism How would the financial capital model affect women (if completed) in reality? reduces redistribution of monies in retiremenent state tax/NI system takes money from earners - redistributes according to political will to wider society private pensions � eat what you kill private pensions saving sucks in tax monies, beneficiaries have own monies PLUS tax relief paid into fund by government � playing stock markets on tax funds easy money chasing assets � asset prices inflated financial markets crash � taxpayer pays twice

18. Women and ageism How did the financial capital model implode? Removal of effective regulation of movement/investment of money Lack of comprehension by general public (FSA financial education fiasco) Poorly administered fiscal regimes (tax evasion/corruption) Too low taxation Political attachment to new model by male elites/ No interest in gender issues among male elites �Belief� in money spinning machine solving those tricky little societal and redistribution problems

19. Women and ageism How did the financial capital model implode? 'rational economic man� Times front page 18th Sept. 2008 �The world is on the brink. The market is puking all over us. There is no capital left in the world.�(Senior London banker)

20. Women and ageism Where are we now? In recession/depression Where next? Old model + ADDED KEYNES for the whiter wash? Welfare capitalism UK or European style? Socialism (gulp?)

21. Women and ageism Where are we now? Economic orthodoxy is that our societies need: more women in paid work more children needed to provide future workforce (increase in birthrate)

22. Women and ageism The European Union view 2000 to ? Developed economies are facing generational imbalance/pensions crisis BUT �When time is factored in as an economic factor, women are over utilised, not under utilised�(EU 2004) Women�s paid and unpaid work exceeds men�s On offer...........

23. Women and ageism A new unisex lifecycle + ADDED gender mainstreaming of policies and statistics Childhood � dependency/education + ADDED extra children Adulthood � earning/ caring/saving and tax paying for both sexes for ADDED time - men (lot) more caring - women more paid work, less caring? Retirement (shorter esp. for men) � self funded pensions (supported by huge tax relief infusions) and backed up by limited tax funded redistributive pensions for needy - Some contradiction in last point here?

24. Women and ageism What do this offer for women? pressure to have more children and reduce native population decline (2.1 per woman is pop. reproduction rate) focus on men � more men don�t want children huge increase in (better) paid work for women massive redistribution of burden of unpaid work to men some paradoxes here? AND some lack of effective tools to make happen

25. Women and ageism What do this really offer for women? Continued financial dependency for women on men (paid workers) Incremental change in different directions Continued poverty/lack of public help for care work and old age Expanding resource hungry economy which ignores environmental and population pressures Bulwark against immigration

26. Women and ageism Problems: Who has decided more workers equals more money for pensions? Who has decided that environment can support more Europeans? Women work more than men, why would men work more? More men than women don�t want children, why is defined as women�s problem?

27. Women and ageism Shall we all shoot ourselves now? Straws in the wind - one: political/economic pressures for change? In what direction? Refocus on role of state - likely Societal need for redistribution � possible Gender equality impact of nationalisation of assets � if we make a fuss Focus on removing tax relief/immunity for rich - possible Removing tax relief on pensions saving � very unlikely

28. Women and ageism Example: New Zealand: No tax relief on pensions saving Adequate basic state pension Extensive, covers more women

29. Women and ageism Straws in the wind � two: Greater financial and economic understanding by women - possible More gender segregated and responsive data � gender impact of market failure? Crisis means women will lose jobs/suffer reduced salaries more than men Male run system is failure

30. Women and ageism Straws in the wind � final: Iceland - Winter 2008 FT �Icelandic women to clean up �male mess��. �Yes, but this time, after cleaning up, we are going to stay�. Halla Tomasdottir �Before we only rowed; now we are going to decide where the boat is headed�.