Real Women: Healthy, happy and confident

 

Thu, 13 Aug 2009

Jo Swinson has launched the Real Women paper. The paper includes proposals to: make employers check for pay discrimination so that women get the money they deserve, to provide 20 hours per week free childcare, to allow everyone to request flexible working patterns and to inject some realism into the media's portrayal of women, instead of the suggestion that nothing less than perfection will do.

Women face pressure from all directions these days.

Hit hard by the recession, trying to juggle family commitments with work and home life, it's easy to feel like you're running just to stand still. 

The media screams out an endless list of things still to do: get a bikini body in 20 days, plan the perfect children's party, how to look 10 years younger.

Despite great strides forward in equality, women still get paid less than men, and generally still end up taking more responsibility for childcare and looking after elderly relatives.  This can be hugely rewarding, but combining this with a job can seem almost impossible.

There's a lot the Government could do to give a helping hand and it would be nice to inject some realism into the media's portrayal of  women, instead of the suggestion that nothing less than perfection will do.

In this paper we will set out what the Liberal Democrats would do differently to help real women.

Jo Swinson

Visit www.realwomen.org.uk for more information about Real Women.