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Britain

‘We have brothers, sons, husbands – but they can’t live here!’ The happy home shared by 26 women

by Narges Mohammadi August 9, 2023

UNITEDKINGDOM/With residents aged from 58 to 94, New Ground is the UK’s first cohousing community exclusively for older women. Setting it up was an 18-year battle – but with soaring numbers of people living alone, is this an idea whose time has come?

Chipping Barnet, a leafy suburb of north London, is an unlikely location for a feminist utopia. Yet it is here, at the top of the high street, past the Susi Earnshaw theatre school and the Joie de Vie patisserie, that you will find Britain’s first cohousing community exclusively for women over 50. The purpose-built development is entirely managed by the women who set it up as an alternative to living alone.

New Ground’s entrance, all glass and bold typography, could easily be mistaken for a co-working space, as could the common room I am ushered into. Everything is bright, airy and spotlessly clean. The walls are lined with sleek white bookcases and a cinema-grade TV screen. The only clue as to the residents’ demographic is an unfinished 1,000-piece jigsaw on a table overlooking the large garden.

I am greeted warmly by the smell of good coffee and a circle of elegantly dressed women. “We range in age from 58 to 94,” says Jude Tisdall, 71, an arts consultant. Like most of the residents, she has lived here since the site’s completion in 2016. “Many of us still work, others volunteer and are active in the community. Someone might come in here and think OK, we are all of an age, but you can’t define us as old.” And it is true that no one here bears any resemblance to the stereotypes of senior citizens, least of all Tisdall, who mentions that she was photographed for a Vogue “rule breakers” issue as “the cohousing pioneer”.

At New Ground there are 25 flats with 26 residents (there is one married couple), eight of which are social rental units. Homes overlook a garden blooming with wildflowers, berries and an orchard. The common meeting room is used for weekly dinners, film nights (where Bill Nighy movies are popular) and yoga classes (“not chair yoga either, proper yoga”). There is also a guest suite for overnight visitors.

The mention of visitors prompts me to ask the burning question. Are men allowed in? “Of course! Everyone asks that,” says Tisdall. “We have brothers, fathers, sons, grandsons, lovers and everything in between. The only thing is they can’t come and live here.”

So, if one of them married a male partner, they would have to move out? “Not necessarily,” laughs Tisdall, who is divorced. “It would be a great excuse to say: ‘I’m sorry, darling. I can’t live with you but we can have great weekends together!”

For the uninitiated, cohousing is nothing like living in a commune. Instead, people occupy individual homes that they can own or rent with additional shared space for socialising, taking classes and gardening. That this is an idea whose time has come, particularly for older people, is indisputable. In 2021, 3.64 million people aged over 65 were living alone in the UK, 70% of whom were women. In 10 years’ time, over-65s will have risen from 19% to an estimated 22% of the population, according to the latest report by the Centre for Ageing Better.

More sobering still, the number of years we can expect to spend without a disabling illness continues to decline – it is now 62.4 years for men and 60.9 years for women. Despite these statistics, cohousing in Britain is still in its infancy. Nearly 20 years after the UK’s first new-build scheme, Springhill, an intergenerational development, opened in Stroud, there are still only 302 homes in 12 new-build communities up and running.

We go on a tour of the site with another resident, Hilary Vernon-Smith, 72. With her lemon-yellow trainers and geometric haircut, she looks every inch the working artist and, in fact, her flat doubles as a studio. Before retirement, she was the head scenic artist at the National Theatre for 28 years. Gesturing towards the central oval lawn, she explains how the women worked closely with the site’s architects. “Research indicates that the dementia-affected brain responds more positively to curves and gets confused by dead-ends, so that was taken into consideration.”

The laid-back vibe means you could be forgiven for underestimating the power of this group. But turning the vision of New Ground into a reality took 18 years of intensive development, education, networking and many, many meetings. Maria Brenton is UK Cohousing Network’s senior ambassador and was instrumental in facilitating New Ground in 1998. “The women who started this were adamant that they didn’t want to sit in a day-room singing Daisy Daisy and Pack Up Your Troubles for the rest of their lives,” she says. “We were fiercely opposed to the ageism and paternalism, the infantilisation of older people by social care services.”

“For me, living in cohousing makes sense but it certainly isn’t for everyone,” she says. “Making decisions together can be quite hard. However, we gave up a house to live in a two-bedroom flat and it really doesn’t feel like we’ve sacrificed anything.”

Mellis Haward, director of Archio Architects, has led many cohousing projects, including Angel Yard (all these sites have storybook names), a developing scheme in Norwich. “For so long we have all been slaves to the housing market and it’s really hard to create intentionally cohesive communities within that. People who are attracted to cohousing usually want purposeful closeness to their neighbors as a big part of their lives. It’s not just about alleviating loneliness – it allows people to become part of an ecosystem of families and individuals.”

Haward believes there needs to be a shift in approach to enable more cohousing to happen quickly because there is interest out there but demand isn’t being met. She suggests that a potential ray of hope may come from an unlikely quarter – mega-developers. “A trend is emerging for developers to build cohousing as an add-on to an existing project.” Have they all suddenly woken up to the benefits of the sharing economy? Maybe not. “I strongly suspect it’s because they know they can quickly shift those homes in advance. There are a large number of people in the cohousing network looking for homes right now. It’s an easy sell. Or maybe they do care about shared values? Maybe I’m just a massive cynic.”

Source: The Guardian

August 9, 2023 0 comment

Europe Society

COMMON ISSUE; “My husband won’t lift a finger to help me. Should I stay or go?”

by Narges Mohammadi June 27, 2023

DOMESTIC/ Your husband is breaking promises and not listening to you. You’re hurt and frustrated, and desperate for things to change, but don’t act in haste or rage.

In Europe, meaning most societies that claim to be a supporter of women’s rights, women more than men have a heavy burden on their shoulders and no so-called feminist group is doing anything to change and fix this situation. Apart from having to work outside the house to be able to handle heavy expenses; they also have to handle the domestic work inside the house.

The dilemma

“I am 47, have two primary-school children, and have a marriage that is in slow decline. From our initial pre-marriage ideals of a kind of Scandinavian shared approach to parenting and marriage, it became apparent that our underlying approach was that of his parents.

The expectation is that I do everything. Nothing is done in an abusive way, but there is a passive detachment that I see in him that mirrors his dad. On his side of the family, the women run around doing everything while the men watch TV and discuss the news.

I have brought this up numerous times, both in frustration and anger and in calmer, sadder moments. My husband will acknowledge this when I am calmer and will try to be more of an equal partner, but after a short time, everything falls back to how it has been.

I often think about being single. The fact that I am not interested in being with another man, but sometimes I find myself wondering if I would have a more equal relationship with a woman. I don’t want to break up because of our children. I have talked with him about splitting up, but he only laughs. Do I stay married? Or should I get out?

Philippa’s answer

For richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health … and we should add another vow along the lines of having to stay together when, despite our best intentions, we end up being like our parents.

However much we might not want to, without the gentle challenge of a loved one, we will revert to mimicking our ancestors. Right now, you are furious. I don’t blame you, your husband, without realizing it, keeps reverting to type, leaving your headspace taken up with remembering to get milk and loo rolls, while he can chat about loftier ideas with other men.

You are cooking dinner and listening to children read to you at the same time, while he watches the news and when you tell him you are reaching the end of your tether and have fantasies of not having him around at all, he is not taking you seriously. Sounds very tempting from an I-told-you-so perspective to leave, I can see that. He breaks his promise about the Scandinavian model daily and this hurts you.

What to do?

It seems when you shout, he cannot hear your words but just tries to defend himself against the shouting. Very tough when you are trying to teach your children about life to have to repeat yourself to a grown man as well. But when you nudge him without shouting, he does respond – maybe you need a shorthand word, so you don’t need to go through the lengthy explanations each time. Maybe start calling him by his dad’s name?

You can have one more gentle long chat, the sort he takes notice of, and then stay a week or two away with a friend. It may bring it home to him just how much there is to think about and do that should be shared. Remind him the children have grown out of all their clothes and shoes on your way out. Watch this clip of comedian Simon Brodkin on YouTube– share it with him, too.

When you fantasize about it, divorce can appear like a lovely quick fix, but it rarely is. It can take a long time to rebuild yourself afterward. There are complications about splitting the finances, with both parties usually ending up with less. No divorce with kids is a clean split as you must continue to co-parent and the things that annoyed you when you were together continue, but with less goodwill to work through them.

Other ways?…

The children suffer and act out. If you have a new same-sex relationship, it will have its problems and rocky patches to work through.

At 47, your estrogen levels may be falling. At the beginning of my perimenopause, I felt homicidal until I got some HRT. It is as though nature didn’t realize we’d still be rearing kids in our middle age and thought we’d do well with less patience and more rage by now, but we are having children later and need our patience a bit longer, so it might be an idea to have a test to see if you are perimenopausal.

Final result …

And if you get HRT and find yourself more tolerant as a result, I do not suggest you let your husband get away with not sharing the physical and emotional labor of the home, but it may give you more patience when you remind him to think about what needs doing and not leave it all to you.

Relationships go through good and bad times; it’s why we need to take vows at the beginning of the commitment. If relationships were all plain sailing, there wouldn’t be marriage to keep us together when things get stormy. I don’t envy your position right now in the middle of your storm, but I do think it can be weathered.

Source: The Guardian

June 27, 2023 0 comment

Europe Society

NEW; More Women Now Make as Much as Their Husbands-but still work more at home

by Narges Mohammadi June 4, 2023

GENDER PAY GAP/ Few women will be surprised to learn that even when wives earn about the same as their husbands or more, a new Pew Research Center study finds that they still spend more time on housework and child care, while their husbands spend more time on paid work and leisure.

“Even as financial contributions have become more equal in marriages, the way couples divide their time between paid work and home life remains unbalanced,” Pew noted.

So who’s earning what?

Pew found that in 29% of heterosexual marriages today, women and men earn about the same (roughly $60,000 each). “Husbands in egalitarian marriages spend about 3.5 hours more per week on leisure activities than wives do. Wives in these marriages spend roughly 2 hours more per week on caregiving than husbands do and about 2.5 hours more on housework,” the study notes.

In 55% of opposite-sex marriages, men are the primary or sole breadwinners, earning a median of $96,000 to their wives’ $30,000.

Meanwhile, in 16% of marriages, the wives out earn their husbands as the primary (10%) or sole breadwinner (6%). In these marriages, women earn a median of $88,000 to their husbands’ $35,000.

Of all of these categories, the only one in which men are reported to spend more time caregiving than their wives is when the woman is the sole breadwinner. And the time spent per week on household chores in those marriages is split evenly between husbands and wives.

In all instances, it’s a big change from 50 years ago — when, for instance, husbands were the primary breadwinner in 85% of marriages.

Women most likely to be the biggest earner

Today, which women are most likely to be the primary or sole breadwinners can vary by age, family status, education, and race.

For instance, Pew found Black women are “significantly more likely” than other women to earn more than their husbands. For instance, 26% of Black women bring home more than their husbands, while only 17% of White women and 13% of Hispanic women do.

But Black women with a college degree or higher and few children at home are also among the most likely to earn about the same as their husbands.

These numbers are reported against a backdrop of society’s attitudes about who should earn more and how caregiving should be divvied up between spouses.

Nearly half of Americans (48%) in Pew’s survey said husbands prefer to earn more than their wives, while 13% said men would prefer their wives earn about the same as them.

What do women want? Twenty-two percent of Americans said most women want a husband who earns more, while 26% said most would want a man who earns about the same.

Meanwhile, when it comes to having a family, 77% said that children are better off when both parents focus equally on their job and on taking care of the kids. Only 19% said children are better off when their mother focuses more on home life and their father focuses more on his job.

The Pew study is based on three data sources: earnings data from the US Census’ Current Population Survey; data from the American Time Use Survey and a nationally representative survey of public attitudes among 5,152 US adults conducted in January.

Source: CNN

June 4, 2023 0 comment

Europe Politics

Politics as Usual?; Rising Violence Against Female Politicians is a Threat to Democracy

by Narges Mohammadi May 25, 2023

BRITAIN/ On 12 July, MPs took part in a Westminster Hall debate on abuse and intimidation of candidates and the public in the recent UK elections. During the debate, Chris Skidmore, the Minister for the Constitution, announced that Prime Minister Theresa May had requested that the Committee on Standards in Public Life carry out a review – firstly, to examine the nature of the problem and its implications for candidates and office holders and, secondly, to consider whether measures already in place to deal with this issue are sufficient, effective, and enforceable.

Research published in 2016 and 2017 indicates that the vast majority of British MPs have experienced ‘intrusive or aggressive behavior’ from constituents, while more than half of female MPs report having received physical threats. News reports suggest that intimidation and harassment have been on the rise for at least the last several years, with the online harassment of Stella Creasy being perhaps the most well-known case. Assassination of Jo Cox in June 2016, however, brought this issue into greater focus – and highlighted that women, in particular, appear to be targeted more often and more viciously than their male colleagues.

Over the past year, numerous MPs have reported online rape and death threats, including Jess Phillips, Yvette Cooper and Anna Soubry. In some cases, these attacks have occurred on multiple fronts, with misogyny combining with homophobia against Angela Eagle, racism against Diane Abbott, and anti-semitism against Luciana Berger.

Further Information

Shortly after the 2017 general elections, some Conservative MPs began to share their experiences, with Sheryll Murray and Sarah Wollaston divulging threats received on social media, as well as incidents of vandalism and intimidation occurring at their homes and offices. In early July, the Citizens Commission on Islam, Participation, and Public Life published Missing Muslims, with a section detailing harassment of British Muslim women aspiring to participate in local politics.

In 2011, for example, the United Nations General Assembly approved Resolution 66/130, calling for zero tolerance for violence against female candidates and elected officials. Furthermore in 2015, states-parties to the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women endorsed a Declaration on Political Harassment and Violence against Women. In 2017, the French Senate approved an amendment that would disqualify those found guilty of sexual or psychological harassment from holding political office.

In a recent article published in the Journal of Democracy, I map these emerging global debates, focusing on the nature of the problem, its implications for candidates and other office-holders, and solutions that might be employed by different actors to address this problem. These international experiences provide a useful starting point for the work of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, enabling it to focus its efforts on developing strategies to combat political violence and harassment in all its manifestations.

What is violence against women in politics?

International actors typically define violence and harassment against women in politics as (1) aggressive acts toward female political actors, faced largely or only by women; (2) because they are women, often using gendered means of attack; (3) in order to deter their participation, as a way to preserve traditional gender roles and undermine democratic institutions. This definition seeks to go beyond traditional understandings of political and electoral violence and harassment, understood as attempts to defeat or silence a particular political perspective through force.

Present debates seek to expand the discussion to address efforts to exclude and silence women specifically – sometimes due to their political affiliation, but also, more often, in spite of it.

The result is that female politicians often confront similar challenges as their male colleagues, stemming from their work as public servants, while also facing resistance and even danger in spaces accessible and safe for men – like political assemblies, party meetings, their offices, and their homes.

Differences in male and female politicians

Differences in male and female politicians’ experiences on social media illustrate these dynamics: while both women and men are (and, for democratic reasons, should be) criticized online for their policy positions, female MPs – and women who voice their opinions more generally – tend to be attacked in highly personalized, sexualised, and often vitriolic ways.

To be sure, there are high levels of political disaffection among the public towards politics and politicians and, when asked to compare the US Congress to a series of unpleasant things, respondents reported a higher opinion of root canals, cockroaches, and traffic jams.

Even in such a context, however, individuals tend to express greater levels of hostility toward female as compared to male leaders, judging women to be less likeable, qualified, and competent despite equivalent profiles.

Devastating consequences for democracy

Normalizing the abuse of public figures – and dismissing sexism and misogyny in the political world – as simply the ‘cost of doing politics’ has devastating consequences for the quality of democracy.

First, it can undermine the will of voters by skewing electoral outcomes and rendering elected representatives less effective. Sexist comments and the sexual objectification of female politicians can have a critical impact on their electoral fortunes, while sexist hostility and intimidation can detract from substantive policy work and drive female politicians to step down.

Second, violence and harassment can impoverish political discourse by truncating the diversity of perspectives brought into the policy-making process. Women whose presence challenges multiple inequalities are frequently targeted, like Cécile Kyenge, the first black minister in Italy, who had bananas and racist epithets thrown at her.

Former Texas state senator Wendy Davis noted: ‘I have lots of bots who follow me. I could literally say it’s a beautiful day in Texas and the responses I get on Twitter are “baby murderer.”’

Third, violence and harassment directed at women can restrict women’s political rights. Motivated by a desire to preserve traditional gender roles, perpetrators may target individual women, but in so doing, communicate a broader message that women as a group should not participate in politics.

Fighting perceptions that this is just ‘politics as usual’

Together with online harassers – whose identities are often more difficult to ascertain amid fake and anonymous accounts, as well as automated bots and communities of trolls – this landscape calls for a multi-level, multi-actor response.

A crucial first step is to resist dismissing violence and harassment as simply ‘politics as usual.’ In 2016, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) launched the #NotTheCost campaign to stop violence against women in politics, arguing that violence is not the cost of doing politics: women should be able to be politically active without experiencing discrimination, harassment, or assault.

At the state level, the National Commission on the Status of Women in Pakistan began collecting official data on violence against women in politics in 2015. In Mexico, various state agencies came together in 2016 to develop a protocol to coordinate their work to combat political violence and harassment.

Within parliaments, legislators have launched reforms to criminalize political violence and harassment, such as a law passed in Bolivia in 2012 and bills proposed in at least five other Latin American countries. In 2014, an all-party committee in the Canadian House of Commons instituted a new code of conduct and procedure for handling sexual harassment complaints.

Final Word

There is no doubt, however, that global momentum is building as women and men around the world recognise that violence against women in politics poses a serious and growing threat to democracy. In the words of former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright: “When a woman participates in politics, she should be putting her hopes and dreams for the future on the line, not her dignity and not her life.”

Source: London School of Economics Blog

May 25, 2023 0 comment

Europe Society

Exploring The Key Issues Facing Girls & Young Women Today

by Narges Mohammadi May 25, 2023

SURVEY/ Girl-guiding’s Girls’ Attitudes Survey 2022 asks girls and young women-how they feel about their everyday lives and today’s pressures.

The survey was taken by 3,015 girls and young women aged 7-21 across the UK. The findings of the survey are useful to charities looking to understand what the group cares about today. They study their biggest challenges they are facing, and how they are getting involved in their communities.

The issues girls and young women care about

The survey asked respondents to rank the importance of some key issues.

The girls and young women surveyed voted mental health as the most important issue. Following this was women’s and girls’ safety, then equality and inclusion. Respondents ranked climate change as the fourth most important issue.

This is useful information for understanding the demographic, both in terms of adapting relevant services to the group and engaging them with the charitable projects they feel most passionate about.

The survey also reflected that more and more girls and young women are identifying as feminists, with a steady increase from 35% in 2013 to 47% in 2018, and finally to 54% in 2022.

Appearance Pressures Impact Mental Health & Wellbeing

When it comes to mental health and wellbeing, Girl-guiding identifies appearance pressures as a “real challenge” for girls and young women, especially as they get older. Happiness with appearance declines from 42% in girls aged 7 to 10 to 10% in those aged 17 to 21.

Over a third of girls and young women between 11 and 21 don’t like posting pictures of themselves on social media unless they use filters or apps to change their appearance.

Charities looking to support the mental health and wellbeing of girls and young women might therefore prioritize addressing the specific issue of appearance pressures upon the group.

Feeling Unsafe In Public, Online, & at School

The survey found that over half of girls and young women aged 11 to 21 said they don’t feel safe when they’re outside on their own. A quarter (26%) of girls and young women don’t feel safe when they’re online, and around 1 in 5 of the group don’t feel safe in school.

Girl-guiding advocate Maddie from Southwest England comments: “It’s unsurprising to see girls and young women are feeling unsafe in many areas of life right now, this being higher in marginalized groups. Changes are being made to education and it’s good this seems to be working. However, more needs to be done to make sure girls can enjoy their lives without fearing for their safety.”

Seeing & Experiencing Sexism & Stereotypes

Sexism and stereotypes influence several aspects of life for girls and young women.

For 11–21-year-olds, sexism was experienced the most online and on social media (80%, which has risen from 68% in 2018). 73% said they experienced sexism in the media, and 68% said they experienced it in public places such as parks and public transport.

Experiencing sexism at school, college, university, or work has increased from 58% in 2018 to 66% in 2022. Over a fifth of girls aged 11 to 21 said gender stereotypes hold them back in school, while one in six respondents aged between 13 and 21 say fear of sexual harassment holds them back in school.

The survey also found that girls and women experienced several barriers to taking part in sport and physical activity. This includes insecurity (48% of those aged 11 to 21), some sports only being available for boys (21%), sport being too expensive (16%), feeling unsafe (13%), and experiencing sexism while taking part in sport (59%).

How Girls & Young Women Are Taking Community Action

A high number of girls and young women are getting involved in their communities. Over a third of those surveyed helped to improve their local area in the past year, while a third engaged in fundraising. Across the UK, 59% supported people who aren’t friends or relatives, and 61% donated money or goods.

Just under a third of girls and young women campaigned for something they believe in over the past year, while nearly half have helped a charity or cause.

Angela Salt OBE, the CEO of Girl-guiding, comments: “I am…encouraged by their unwavering enthusiasm for social and community action, and inspired by their commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion.”

Source: Charity Digital Blog

May 25, 2023 0 comment

Europe Health

NEW; New Moms in England Share their Labor Experiences

by Narges Mohammadi April 3, 2023

“I kept begging for pain relief”; they were forced to give birth without gas and air

BRITAIN/ Some hospitals are suspending supplies of gas and air after it was found to pose health risks to midwives. What can be done to ensure pregnant women still get the help they need?

Leigh Milner

When Leigh Milner was expecting her first baby, she knew exactly how she wanted her labor to go. Her birth plan included an epidural for the pain and she was hoping, she says ruefully, for “all the drugs”. But that is not how things worked out. Milner, 33, a BBC presenter; ended up giving birth to Theo at Princess Alexandra hospital in Harlow. This happened with nothing but paracetamol for pain relief; in what she calls a positively “Victorian” experience.

Having been induced at 38 weeks due to pre-eclampsia; a potentially risky pregnancy complication that causes high blood pressure. The labor progressed very fast and she soon realized she needed something to help her cope. “The pain was just unbearable, my whole body was shaking – I didn’t know where I was. I was kind of slipping in and out of consciousness,” she says.

At this point, many women would gulp gas and air the bedside mix of oxygen; and nitrous oxide familiar to mothers as the commonest form of pain relief in labor. But at Princess Alexandra, along with a handful of other hospitals across south-east England, supplies were temporarily suspended when Milner gave birth in February after the hospital found excessive levels of nitrous oxide (which can pose a long-term health risk to midwives) in the air on the ward.

Leigh’s Words

“I kept begging over and over again – ‘I need something for pain relief’ – and the only thing they could give me was paracetamol because they didn’t have gas and air. I was quite frightened, I didn’t know what else to do,” says Milner. It was only when she reached the labor ward that staff told her there wasn’t time for an epidural. She delivered Theo while being prepped for an emergency cesarean and was left “writhing in pain” for hours afterward, while her husband, Chris Berrow, looked after the baby.

“It seemed like it would never end – it was a mess from start to finish. I understand they have to keep the staff safe, but they also need to support women giving birth,” says Milner, who is keen to talk openly about the experience because of what she sees as a broader expectation that women in childbirth should just grit their teeth and bear it. “There’s a kind of ‘get on with it’ attitude. And yes, I have a lovely healthy baby boy and I would do it all again for him, don’t get me wrong. But I don’t think we can just keep saying to mothers: ‘At least you have a healthy baby, move on, it’s fine.’ Birth is painful, but it shouldn’t be traumatic.”

Statistics

Seventy-six percent of women who gave birth in England last year used gas and air at some point in labor, according to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) watchdog. It doesn’t so much remove the pain as make it more bearable. But it is popular because women can help themselves as necessary, it works quickly and it doesn’t slow down contractions (which stronger opioid painkillers such as pethidine can). While some women use it only as a stepping stone to something stronger, others build their hopes of a “natural” birth with minimal intervention on it.

Research shows that while inhaling gas and air (known as Entonox) in labor is perfectly safe for mothers and babies, long-term cumulative exposure – for example in midwives working day after day on badly ventilated wards, with gas accumulating in the atmosphere – may carry health risks.

Over time it can affect the ability to absorb vitamin B12, damaging nerves and potentially causing anemia. Some studies have associated occupational exposure with fertility problems and the risk of miscarriage, although research is not conclusive.

William Harvey Hospital

Last November, the William Harvey hospital in Ashford, Kent, restricted access to gas and air after detecting high levels of nitrous oxide on the unit (it’s since been restored). Weeks later, a Hospital in Essex temporarily suspended gas and air, saying previous tests had shown “an issue” with levels of nitrous oxide in the maternity unit. Some staff in the unit are reportedly considering legal action against the Mid and South Essex NHS foundation trust that runs the hospital, and the Health and Safety Executive is investigating.

Ipswich Hospital

Ipswich hospital also suspended gas and air use last December, but reintroduced it after installing new ventilation, and in late February, North West Anglia NHS foundation trust temporarily suspended gas and air at maternity units in Peterborough and Huntingdon following air-quality tests. Meanwhile, Watford general hospital avoided a break in Entonox provision after recording high levels in its maternity unit by installing machines to extract the gas.

Pain relief in labor is an emotive subject, laced with guilt and arguments about whether suffering is an essentially “natural” part of childbirth or something nobody would be expected to endure in other fields of medicine. Even before the current problems with gas and air, some mothers struggled to have the birth they wanted. In 2019, the CQC found more than a third of women switched from their planned form of pain relief in labor, mostly for medical reasons, but in 3% of cases because there was no anesthetist available (only anesthetists can give epidurals) and in 19% of cases because there was no time for what they had wanted.

For those whose labors come on suddenly, gas and air may be the only option. “It takes the edge off and makes you feel calmer,” says Kathie, a mother of two daughters from Suffolk, whose labors both took two and a half hours from start to finish, with no time for an epidural. “This also makes you feel less anxious because it gives you something to do – even the act of having the gas mask and breathing in gives you something else to concentrate on.” It helped her to feel less out of control, she says, when things were moving frighteningly fast. But if gas and air can be a godsend for mothers, it carries potential hidden dangers for those looking after them.

Scotland

Leah Hazard is an NHS midwife in Scotland, an activist, and the author of Womb: The Inside Story. She has been approached by several midwives in recent weeks about the impact high Entonox levels at work may have had on them, she says: “There’s a genuine feeling of frustration, anger, and fear because some of the midwives have had real issues with their health and fertility – and, in some cases, B12 deficiency. They are looking back and feeling quite angry about it. I’ve also spoken to midwives who haven’t tried to start a family yet but have been working in labor wards and are worried some damage may have been done.”

While hospitals have been criticized for suddenly suspending services, Hazard points out that it is unreasonable to expect midwives to risk their health. “You would never say: ‘Why don’t builders just keep working on that building with asbestos for a few weeks longer?’ It’s primarily a service by women for women, and [midwifery] was always a role deemed to be warm and fuzzy, and docile. There’s an assumption that we should just put up and shut up.”

Royal College of Midwives

The Royal College of Midwives has also argued that the current crisis reflects a lack of what Dr. Suzanne Tyler, executive director for services to members, called “proper investment” in maternity services, which have long suffered from chronic understaffing and creaking old buildings. We know of crumbling walls, ceilings being held up by props, and even sewage flowing onto wards.

For many midwives, Hazard says, the fact that the risk from Entonox is seemingly highest in older hospitals with poor ventilation revives unhappy memories of the pandemic. “We were well aware then that we were often working in badly ventilated rooms, not shiny new buildings. Many of us caught Covid and have been very ill,” she says. For many midwives, these new worries about safety are “the last straw”.

In theory, there are plenty of alternatives, from “natural” options such as hypnosis and water births to stronger opioids such as pethidine. But Hazard says there is no exact equivalent to gas and air. “They all have their specific profiles in terms of risks and benefits – it’s not like you can say, ‘Really sorry, we don’t have any gas and air, but why don’t you have some morphine?’ That’s a different step up the ladder. Or: ‘Sorry, why don’t you have the birthing pool?’ Well, not everybody wants to give birth in water.”

National Childbirth Trust

The National Childbirth Trust (NCT), which has been fielding calls from worried pregnant women, is advising those in affected areas to ask their midwives about other methods or see if they can switch to another hospital. For those seeking epidurals, who might normally use gas and air while waiting for the anesthetists to get to them; the NCT’s practice manager, Val Willcox, says wards should always have enough anesthetic cover to meet epidural demand, but women “might want to think about other strategies for coping with contractions” if there is a wait at busy times.

“Giving birth is a life-changing event – it’s seismic – and birth is your introduction to parenthood. How the birth goes affects how you feel postnatally, too,” she points out. “You do have rights over your treatment, whether that’s giving birth or having another kind of operation. When the choice is taken away from you, that’s traumatic.”

Birthrights

Birthrights have taken several calls in recent weeks about gas and air, she says – some women only realized it had been withdrawn from their local hospital after reading about it on social media.

Treadway is particularly concerned about the impact on pregnant women who had their first babies during the pandemic, on labor wards operating under severe covid restrictions, and who may be carrying difficult memories from that time into a second pregnancy. “At best, you are going in with a degree of apprehension.”

Six weeks on from Theo’s birth, Milner is recovering well and besotted with her son. But her distressing experience on the labor ward did, she says, color their first days together. She is keen to take up the hospital’s offer of a “birth reflections” session to go over and process her experience with a midwife.

Source: Guardian

April 3, 2023 0 comment

Asia Society

NEW; 1st Muslim Woman Appointed CEO of International Charity Penny Appeal

by Narges Mohammadi April 1, 2023

DUBAI/ Penny Appeal, the Muslim international humanitarian charity, has appointed Ridwana Wallace-Laher as its CEO, the first Muslim woman to hold such a post at a major global charity.

Wallace-Laher is a former teacher at the Yorkshire (Bradford) Co-op Academy Grange in the UK and is experienced in mentoring people from a variety of backgrounds.
Her appointment comes after being part of the Penny Appeal team for three years, with experience in various roles, including most recently as senior director of growth.

Working with Penny Appeal, which is based in Wakefield, Yorkshire, she has a strong track record of leading diverse teams, building relationships with stakeholders, and encouraging collaboration.
Wallace-Laher said: “It has been an honor to have been part of the core unit that has led the positive change Penny Appeal has made in the faith-led charity sector globally. My commitment to greater governance, collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement, combined with my background as a senior teaching professional, make me confident that I can drive Penny Appeal’s success even further in the future.”

Chairman Trustee Words

Mohammed Jahangir, chairman of trustees, said: “Ridwana stood out against all other candidates through a tough selection process, and I am proud to have her as our new CEO.”
He said that she is the first Muslim woman to hold the CEO position at a major international charity. “May she be the first of many Muslim women to do so,” he added.

“At a time when the world is facing a global economic crisis when many in the UK and abroad are struggling to feed themselves and pay electricity bills, and when people in Turkey and Syria are suffering due to the recent earthquake, we at Penny Appeal are trying our best to help those who need it by supporting them and providing aid during these times or events.

“The trustees are confident that Ridwana is a woman who will take Penny Appeal to new heights to help those in need. We believe she will transform and grow the charity for the digital age while staying true to our core values of helping those in need. I look forward to seeing the positive impact that Ridwana will have on the charity and her leadership to make the world a better place,” Jahangir said.

Source: Arab News Agency

April 1, 2023 0 comment

Europe Health

NEW & AMAZING; “Scotland’s Baby Box”

by Narges Mohammadi March 18, 2023

SCOTLAND/ Scotland’s Baby Box scheme has reached a milestone as over 250,000 families nationwide have been delivered since its inception.

In Aberdeen and Aberdeen shire, 28,000 families have received their Baby Box from NHS Grampian since the project was first launched back in 2017 by the Scottish Government.

Baby Box Scheme

The boxes are designed to help newborns by providing parents; with essentials like clothing, books, contraceptives, and toys, while also being fitted as a bed for babies.

In total, 250,560 boxes have now been distributed to parents across Scotland since the start of the project; with the estimated cost of items provided in the Baby Box totaling £429.

NHS Grampian has delivered the fourth-highest number of boxes in the country behind Greater Glasgow and Clyde; Lanark shire, and Lothian.

Aberdeen Don side MSP Jackie Dunbar has welcomed the news that of the total figure; 27,667 of Scotland’s Baby Box have been delivered across Grampian since the scheme’s inception.

Commenting; Miss Dunbar said: “I am delighted that so many baby boxes have been delivered across Scotland; by the SNP since 2017″.

She added; “Providing essential items needed for the first six months of their child’s life; is a particularly important gift to new parents when household budgets are under increasing pressure with the cost-of-living crisis.”

“The baby box is one of many transformative actions the SNP is taking to make a real difference to children; and families on low incomes – like the game-changing Scottish Child payment, which now totals £25 per week per child.

“While the SNP government continues to deliver bold policies in government for a fairer Scotland; with the limited powers at its disposal; it is only with the full powers of independence that we can properly build a better future that works for everyone.”

Source: Aberdeen Live News

March 18, 2023 0 comment

Europe Health

NEW; UK Women Claim “Childcare Duties Affect Career Progression”

by Narges Mohammadi March 18, 2023

BRITAIN/ Two-thirds of women with childcare responsibilities believe they have missed out on career progression; as a direct result business leaders have warned amid growing pressure on the government to boost support for parents.

Ahead of next week’s budget, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said tackling barriers to work posed by soaring childcare costs and a lack of support for elderly or disabled relatives was vital for equality and the economy.

A landmark survey of more than 4,000 women; found as many as 67% felt childcare duties in the past decade; had cost them progress at work; including pay rises, promotions or career development.

Barriers

“Tackling these issues is integral not only to the well-being of our women; but it is also crucial to the functioning of any strong economy;” Shevaun Haviland the BCC’s said.

The intervention adds to pressure on the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, to use his upcoming budget to provide more support for parents to work, amid warnings from economists that sky-high childcare costs are among the reasons why thousands of people have quit the jobs market.

Hunt is widely expected to place growing workforce participation at the heart of his statement but is thought to be unlikely to announce major new funding for childcare amid government concerns over the public finances.

However, charities, trade unions, and business groups argue that supporting more people to work; could benefit the economy in the longer term.

Local Economic Strategies Centre & Women’s Budget Group

A new analysis by the Centre for Local Economic Strategies and the Women’s Budget Group, published last week, finds the barriers to paid work faced by women mean almost £90bn of gross value added is lost to the economy in England, Scotland and Wales each year – equivalent to the entire contribution of the financial services industry.

Trades Union Congress

Meanwhile, the Trades Union Congress has calculated that almost 1.5 million women; are kept out of the labor market because of their caring responsibilities; compared with 230,000 men; making them seven times as likely to stand outside the workforce.

In an analysis published at the annual TUC women’s conference; the unions’ umbrella group said this showed ministers had to act now to keep women in work; make sure they are paid fairly; and properly address the gender pay gap.

Paul Nowak, the TUC general secretary, said: “We desperately need funded high-quality childcare for all families; free at the point of use, so women can stay in work once they have kids.

Jobs Website “Adzuna” & Institute For Fiscal Studies

A separate analysis by the jobs website Adzuna; shows that less than 3% of job adverts online mention support for women. It called on employers to rethink the benefits they offer to help women stay in work; and thrive while highlighting that more job adverts mention free gym membership or unlimited holidays than menopause support.

Highlighting gender gaps despite progress made in recent years, the Institute for Fiscal Studies; warned in its report that inequalities between men and women; for income from private pensions were set to persist for decades.

It said the difference between men’s and women’s average state pension incomes; for those born in the 1950s, had closed to essentially zero over the past decade. However, women still had private pension incomes about 45% lower than men.

The IFS said this was almost entirely driven by differences in labour market patterns – employment rates; hours worked and hourly wages – which particularly open up after the birth of children.

Laurence O’Brien, the research economist at IFS; said the divisions persisted even for younger age groups: “As these generations will not retire for many decades; we can expect a gender gap in pension incomes to remain for a long time yet.”

Source: Guardian

March 18, 2023 0 comment

Europe Society

NEW; Gender Pay Gap = Women Work for in 2 Months of the Year

by Narges Mohammadi March 15, 2023

UNITED KINGDOM/ The average woman in paid employment effectively works for free for nearly two months of the year; compared to the average man in paid employment, according to an analysis published by the TUC. The gender pay gap for all employees currently stands at 14.9%. This means that working women must wait 54 days – nearly eight weeks; or two months – before they stop working for free on Women’s Pay Day.

Gender Pay Gap By Age

The TUC analysis shows that this matter is the widest for older women, so they have to wait longer for their Women’s Pay Day.

Women aged between 50 and 59 have the highest pay gap (20.8%) and work the equivalent of 76 days for free, until Thursday 16 March 2023.
Women aged 60 and over have a gender pay gap of 18.4%. They work 67 days of the year for free before they stop working for free on Wednesday 8 March 2023.

The gender pay gap widens once a woman becomes a mum. And older women take a financial hit for balancing work alongside caring for older relatives as well as children and grandchildren, says the TUC.

Regional Gender Pay Gaps

The analysis shows that in some parts of the country gender pay gaps are even bigger, so their Women’s Pay Day is later in the year.

The gap is largest in the South East of England (17.9%). Women in this region work 65 days for free and they work for free until Monday 6 March 2023.
Women in the East of England (17.5% pay gap) and the East Midlands (16.6%) also work for free until next month (Saturday 4 March and Wednesday 1 March).

Regional variations in the gender pay gap are likely to be caused by differences in the types of jobs and industries that are most common in that part of the country, says the TUC.

Industrial Gender Pay Gaps

Despite the introduction of the gender pay gap reporting back in 2017, the analysis published by the TUC today shows that there are still big gender pay gaps in many industries.

Even in jobs that tend to be dominated by female workers like education and healthcare the gender pay gap persists.

In these sectors, women get paid much less per hour on average than men, both because they are more likely to be in part-time jobs or are in lower-paid roles.

In education the gender pay gap is 22.2%, so the average woman effectively works for free for more than a fifth of the year (81 days) until Wednesday 22 March 2023.
In health care and social work jobs, where the gender pay gap is 14%, the average woman works for free for 51 days until Monday 20 February 2023.

The longest wait for Women’s Pay Day comes in finance and insurance. The gender pay gap (31.2%) is the equivalent of 114 days, meaning women work for free for nearly a third of the year until Sunday 23 April 2023.

TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said:

“Working women deserve equal pay. But at current rates of progress, it will take more than 20 years to close the gender pay gap.

“That’s just not good enough. We can’t consign yet another generation of women to pay inequality.

“It’s clear that just publishing gender pay gaps isn’t working. Companies must be required to publish action plans to explain what steps they’ll take to close their pay gaps. And bosses who don’t comply with the law should be fined.

“The pandemic highlighted that we can do more to help women balance their caring responsibilities and work. Flexible working is key to keeping mums in jobs and is our best way of closing the gender pay gap.

“We should change the law so that all jobs are advertised with all the possible flexible options clearly stated. And all workers must have the legal right to work flexibly from their first day in a job.”

On Childcare & Parental Leave, Paul added:

“It’s clear that the gender pay gap widens dramatically once women become mums. We need ministers to fund childcare from the end of maternity leave to support working parents – along with better wages and recognition for childcare workers.

“Both parents need to be able to share responsibility for caring for their kids. Dads and partners need better rights to well-paid leave that they can take in their right. Otherwise, mums will continue to take on the bulk of caring responsibilities – and continue to take the financial hit.”

Source: FENews

March 15, 2023 0 comment

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