Improving Representation of Low Income, Working Class Women

Improving Representation of Low-Income, Working Class Women

During the pandemic, those on the lowest incomes have experienced over twice the rate of mortality of those on the highest incomes, with working class women having borne a disproportionately heavy impact. Yet this, and the range of other disproportionate impacts on long term health/mental health, income, education and housing security, despite being well-documented, are largely absent from national discourse. Much more effort is needed to ensure that politically invisible working class people have a place at the table within our Party. We cannot make serious claims to care about equality and democracy whilst less than four per cent of Labour MPs come from working class backgrounds, relative to over 30 percent of the general population.

Low income working class women are invisible within influential and public-facing political roles currently. Studies confirm that our party has seen a marked decline in working class participation in general over the past three decades and this has impacted our vote where we have lost seats. We need low income women in public-facing and policy-influencing roles in order to regain credibility within those communities.

We call on the Labour Party to pro-actively ensure increased visibility and participation of working class / low income women at all levels of the party, with an emphasis on low income women members’ practical support needs in selforganising and influencing, starting by pro-actively gathering appropriate monitoring data and urgently developing and publicising access pathways.