Who's Counting

1 mother + 2 kids + 0 husband = Family. In the US in 1960, unmarried mothers accounted for about 5 percent of births, now they are almost 40%; about half are women on their own, the rest with partners. More and more women are choosing to bring up their families along or to have a child without a partner. Single parent families now make up about 40% of households. This makes the emphasis society places on the traditional nuclear family.1 mother +...

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Everyday Money

Many people are feeling intense anxiety over jobs and money during this period of uncertainty. If you are one of these and are struggling to cope here are some ideas to help your state of mind:• Firstly establish what money is: it is simply a medium of exchange, it does not reflect self worth. If you cannot live in the way you have in the past, or have to downsize, it does not measure your value as a person.• Money does not define success. If you...

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Musings and Amusings

In my last Womenomics blog I wrote about women in Zimbabwe protesting. As a cosseted woman in the Western world I can only watch the women who take action against seemingly insurmountable odds with admiration and amazement. A documentary called ‘Pray the Devil Back to Hell’ recounts the story of a woman in Liberia who was inspired to organise the women of her church to pray for peace during the regime of Charles Taylor; the rebels opposing him created...

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Womenomics

The Davos Forum (see Finance and Investments) had 81 business leaders attending; of the 81 four were women. This disparity is not new in fact women created their own forum, Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society held in France each year. Seperate but equal, I don’t think so!“The big theme at this year’s World Economic Forum was Shaping the Post-Crisis World,” wrote Ruth Sunderland in Britain’s The Observer. “The idea that that can be achieved...

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Finance and Investments

Gender balance requirements and usefulness are frequently seen as part of the bra burning feminist culture and treated with disdain. Nicholas D Kristoff writes in an Op-Ed piece for the New York Times that banks around the world ‘desperately want bailouts of billions of dollars, but they also have another need they’re unaware of; women, women and women.”This comment follows on from discussions which took place at the recent World Economic Forum in...

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Why?

Why in 2008 are women still underrepresented in politics? In the USA the land of equality and opportunity we have seen the inauguration of Obama after an incredibly gender focused campaign. Obama’s cabinet does not reflect his rhetoric; less than 25%of his cabinet are women. No doubt the naysayers will claim that there are not enough women with the appropriate skills to take their place alongside the male cabinet members.But, consider this – the...

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