Did the federal budget do enough for women?
COVID-19 is a gendered crisis.
Most of the people who have lost their jobs in Australia since the pandemic began are women. In July, childcare workers - mostly women - lost access to JobKeeper. And rates of domestic violence have jumped.
Did the federal budget account for this? Some critics say it didn’t properly consider how COVID-19 has affected women.
Childcare
Childcare providers in Victoria will receive $314.2 million.
But despite calls from the sector, there’s no new funding for any other providers.
Experts and major players in the childcare sector were calling for more funding as a way of getting women back to work - with less funding, fewer families can afford childcare, meaning women disproportionately stay home.
Domestic violence
Before Tuesday’s budget, $150 million in funding for domestic and family violence was announced.
The Federal Government has said more funding is on its way, but won’t say how big a second package would look.
It said it would consult with the sector before more funding is announced.
Older women
A new plan to incentivise businesses to hire workers aged 35 and younger has been welcomed by experts who fear young people have been disproportionately hit by the pandemic.
But critics warn it may leave behind older female workers.
“Women over 35, particularly those without a job or those working in insecure employment, just received absolutely nothing in this budget,” said Trish Bergin, co-director of the University of Canberra’s 5050 by 2030 Foundation.
“It’s a budget that misses the idea that we live in a society, not an economy… The lack of attention to social relations, childcare, older men and women is a real disappointment.”
University of Sydney professor of gender and employment relations Marian Baird.