Scottish Women's Budget Group

08/10/2026

We can’t tackle child poverty without tackling women’s poverty.

We know that one of the ways to address women’s inequality starts with better childcare policies.

Emerging evidence suggests the current Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) system does not fully meet families’ needs.

Improvements to this would increase the ability of parents and guardians to take up or sustain work, education and training.

This , we need to recognise that supporting women is an essential part of tackling child poverty, helping to build a fairer future for families.

Read SWBGs report on ELC to understand exactly where it succeeds and where improvements are needed - link in bio.

29/09/2026

"We need to be using gender budget analysis, being transparent about outcomes to be achieved and linking budget allocations to advancing equality."

Our Policy and Engagement Lead, Carmen, gave evidence to the Public Service Reform Committee as part of its pre-budget scrutiny. She highlighted our key call for the public service reform agenda to be informed by gender budget analysis.

Drawing on the experiences and views of women we work with across Scotland, Carmen also raised concerns that a lack of understanding of the gendered use of public services, and, in particular, the provision of unpaid care, could risk further embedding inequality into public service reforms.

She also highlighted that the Programme for Government plans to reduce Violence against women and girls need to focus on prevention. The Equally Safe strategies recognise that violence against women and girls is the cause and consequence of gender inequality.

Watch the complete committee session online: scottishparliament.tv/meeting/public-service-reform-committee-september-17-2026

23/09/2026

The final briefing from our annual Women’s Survey is now available to read.

In the final of three briefings, we look at the cost-of-living pressures facing women.

Our research shows that disabled women and lone parents were particularly likely to report substantial increases in food costs, with 94% reporting an increase.

Gender analysis must be embedded at all levels of decision-making to ensure that budget cuts and policy actions do not further entrench existing inequalities.

Read the complete briefing to learn more about SWBG’s recommendations for the UK Government, Scottish Government and local authorities, informed by the experiences of women who participated in the survey.

https://www.swbg.org.uk/content/publications/Cost-of-Living-Pressures-Briefing-2026.pdf

21/09/2026

In our annual Women’s Survey, we asked respondents to share some of the greatest financial challenges they are currently facing.

One respondent shared the impact of changes to home care services:

“The community home care services have been reduced, and now I have to handle all the daily tasks such as meals, medication and companionship. It’s much busier than last year.”

The reduction in these services disproportionately impacts women, as women are more likely to undertake unpaid care work. This can have significant impacts on their wellbeing and finances.

In our latest briefing, Cost of Living Pressures, we look at the findings from this year’s survey and share women’s experiences of cost-of-living pressures, income and financial security, and the intersections between work and care.

Read the complete briefing to learn more about SWBG’s recommendations for the UK Government, Scottish Government and local authorities, informed by the experiences of women who participated in the survey.

https://www.swbg.org.uk/content/publications/Cost-of-Living-Pressures-Briefing-2026.pdf

15/09/2026

Scotland's Programme for Government rightly identified tackling the cost-of-living crisis, violence against women and girls (VAWG) and sustaining community cohesion as crucial to reducing division and creating social stability.

We wrote about how Scotland's Programme for Government focuses more on symptoms of women’s inequality than on the root causes, and how investing in areas like social care is a crucial step.

Last week’s Programme for Government rightly identified tackling the cost-of-living crisis, violence against women and girls (VAWG) and sustaining community cohesion as crucial to reducing division…

10/09/2026

Findings from the SWBG’s fifth annual Women’s Survey show that over half (56%) of respondents feel worse off financially than they did last year.

Disabled women, Black and minority ethnic women, single parents and women living in rural areas were particularly likely to report a decrease in household income, with the top increase being in food costs.

Our research shows that cuts to specific public services largely impact women, as they are more likely to undertake unpaid care and rely on public services to support caring responsibilities.

Gender analysis must be embedded at all levels of decision-making to ensure that budget cuts and actions do not further entrench existing inequalities.

Read the complete briefing for SWBG’s recommendations for the UK government, Scottish Government and Local Authorities, informed by women participating in the survey.

Some recommendations are longstanding, reflecting both the persistence of structural inequalities and the recurring issues raised in the survey.

Read, share and download the briefing from our website:https://www.swbg.org.uk/content/publications/Cost-of-Living-Pressures-Briefing-2026.pdf

27/08/2026

The SWBG urges wider reform on Council Tax in Scotland, as "failure to progress is severely damaging the public services and amenities we all rely on, but which are particularly vital for women, disabled people and those with low incomes.

“We’ve been hearing from women across Scotland their desire for change. To create a fair system where those with greater levels of wealth pay their fair share. Failure to progress is severely damaging the public services and amenities we all rely on, but which are particularly vital for women, disabled people and those with low incomes."

The STUC believes the plan lacks ambition and does not raise a significant amount of money.

24/08/2026

Women’s financial inequality is shaped by the way our society values care work.

In this clip, we explore some of the structural reasons why women are more likely to experience poverty. Including spending more time undertaking unpaid care work and having less time to undertake paid work, making them more likely to work part-time or in insecure work.

Additionally, paid care work is often seen as ‘women’s work’ and often undervalued and underpaid.

Watch part two of our animation to find out why understanding these inequalities is essential to creating budgets and policies that work for women, who rely most on local services.

Watch the complete animation, Women’s Inequality in Scotland, on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/watch?v=hfCr5OYeZtQ

20/08/2026

Have you wondered how elected members decide how money is raised and spent in your area? For example, how much is spent on childcare or public transport? The SWBG want to help inform people's understanding!

Join us as we provide an overview of the Scottish budget process, highlighting opportunities to influence budget decisions at a national and local level.

Join us online on Wednesday 23 September at 1-2pm or 7-8pm.

Register here: https://tr.ee/ALVJEGRNvD

11/08/2026

The cost-of-living crisis has exposed that inequalities are deeply entrenched in our society. It has shown that our economy isn't working – but for women, our economy has never really worked.

How money is raised and how money is spent impacts men and women differently. This is because the gender norms, stereotypes, and expectations that affect men and women are often unseen.

The Scottish Women’s Budget Group asks, who benefits from the way public money is raised and spent, and we encourage the use of gender budgeting to create more equal budgets and policies.

Watch part one of our animation to explore how examining budgets through a gender lens can help reveal how policies may reinforce existing inequalities or contribute to addressing them.

Watch the complete animation on the SWBG's YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/hfCr5OYeZtQ?si=mjatda9qhY6Xbe5w