Welfare

Gender inequalities in welfare and quality of life are repeated in many occasions as a consequence of the reproductive work to which women dedicate a big part of their time. The inclusion of women in work life has caused an overcharge of daily work for having to combine reproductive and productive work. Furthermore, if we think in the people they take care of, the data reveal that the majority of elderly and dependent people are women. On the other hand, several gender studies based on this area have proved that determiners of health –health status, illnesses or demands and needs concerning social services- are not the same in case of women and in case of men.

In this section we intend to enquire into the study of the level of welfare and the quality of women and men’s life at municipal level from a wide and holistic approach which doesn’t understand health only as the absence of illness but as a comprehensive process with implications on emotional, physical and social level. It is about knowing and understanding the influences of the gender determinants in the health status of people with special attention to life quality processes which develop women’s lives. In this sense we investigate about inequality in the access and the quality of social resources and non-contributory state benefits, as well as the impact of health problems related to chronic diseases and healthy lifestyle habits.

Up to now, the obtained information is focused on the analysis of inequalities in terms of dependency, in the access to municipal policies and on non-contributory benefits. However, we show a proposal of indicators and premises to guide future studies which make visible and analyse the existing inequalities in the city, extracted from the qualitative research carried out.

Dependency

Data source: IGE (Galician Institute of Statistics), 2015.

The rates of dependency are higher for women, except in the case of juvenile dependency. This indicator confirms that the risk of dependency is higher in the case of women than in the case of men.

The qualitative research points to the fact that the care of dependent people, minors as well as adults, keep mainly devolving upon the women of the family, who maintain the domestic economy with their free work. This reality constrains the opportunities of setting up ways of inclusion and professional development with independency.

Data source: IGE (Galician Institute of Statistics), 2015.

In the qualitative research it is shown that women with functional diversity in terms of violence suffer from multiple discrimination, not only for gender reasons but also performed by caretakers, supporters, relatives, friends... Furthermore  the differentiation between urban and rural areas is shown, which is an element to consider due to the fact that in rural areas the risk of institutional inattention is higher.

Municipal policies

Up to the moment we count on the information shown in the following. For the future, in the qualitative research the need to evaluate the coverage of municipal activities related to conciliation is stated.

Data source: Department of Social Policies, Diversity and Health, 2016.

A total of 69 people are beneficiaries of social solidarity, 13 of the helps for social risk and 1 of the helps of prevention. We can see that, like in all the cases, the percentage of women beneficiaries of helps and income of social risk goes beyond 50% in all the cases.

Data source: Department of Social Policies, Diversity and Health, 2016.

90 people took part in this programme in 2016. In this case women represent more than half of the users.

Data source: Red Cross, 2016

The municipal programme for teleservice had a total of 53 users, the one for assistance to elderly people with deteriorated cognitive functions 38, the one for additional home help 34, the one for promotion of healthy aging 63, the one for the social network for elderly people (Enrédate) 113, the one for elderly volunteers on 76. Women are the big majority of people who access and take part in the projects and programmes promoted by the area of Elderly.

Data source: UMAD (Municipal Unit of Assistance to drug addicts).

* The Programme of Official Help focuses its activities on the accompaniment of people with open or pending judicial cases. The Programme of Personalized Inclusion focuses on an itinerary of social intervention of educational, work and judicial nature.

The Programme of Personalized Inclusion had a total of 94 users in 2012 and the Programme of Judicial Help 166 in 2016. It can be seen that on the two cases the percentage of men represents virtually the total number of users.

The qualitative research points out different gender inequalities related to the drug addicted population, for example, that the incidence of consumption is lower in the case of women. Likewise, the tendency to find more young women than young men stands out; at older ages the profile of male consumers is much more usual.

Referring to the multiple discrimination of drug addicted women it is worth noting:

  • Elevated number of cases of male violence: a situation of special emergency for women who live in the street is identified. In these circumstances the workers identify the violence as a result of the search for protection, that means, an increase in the dependency of women in relationships as a mechanism of protection is noted. It is also usual that women turn to prostitution as a mechanism of sustenance, so it is frequent that they cut any type of social or family connection which is another fact to increase the dependency of women compared to men.
  • Lack of consciousness in self-care: referring to the sexual health it is very frequent that they don’t undergo any type of revision which makes many emergency situations in case of pregnancy or illness more difficult. Risky sexual practices are very usual.
  • Problems of self-esteem caused by the loss of supporting networks and over all due to the social stigmatization they suffer.

 

Economic benefits

Data source: IGE (Galician Institute of Statistics), 2015.

* [Social emergency aids (AES), contributory pensions of the Social Security (permanent disability, retirement and death and survivors pensions), non-contributory pensions of the Social Security, LISMI benefits (the law for social integration of disabled people), benefits from the National Social Assistance Fund (FAS), family benefits for dependent children, unemployment benefits, Social Integration Benefit of Galicia (RISGA)]

The data confirm that the majority of people who receive and access to non-contributory benefits (for retirement and disability), RISGA and AES, are women. If we look at the distribution of people who receive pensions and benefits*, the percentage of women gets slightly higher with a difference of 5%.

This indicator points out that the risk of poverty is higher for women than for men. The fact that women dedicate part of their daily life to unpaid work, that their work lives are less stable and more precarious and that they have a higher risk of dependency are some of the factors that influence these figures.

Data source: IGE (Galician Institute of Statistics), 2015.

* [Social emergency aids (AES), contributory pensions of the Social Security (permanent disability, retirement and death and survivors pensions), non-contributory pensions of the Social Security, LISMI benefits (the law for social integration of disabled people), benefits from the National Social Assistance Fund (FAS), family benefits for dependent children, unemployment benefits, Social Integration Benefit of Galicia (RISGA)]

The gender gap is repeated in the ensemble of pensions and benefits as well as in the contributory pensions of the Social Security: men receive around 270 Euros more than women. This difference represents approximately 30% of the medium amount which women receive in the two cases.

That is how the impact of scarcity in work life becomes visible (temporary contracts, elevated level of part-time work, job instability...); it increase poverty in the case of women who receive a pension or benefits.