Statement by Skevi Koukouma, Political Bureau member and AKEL MP for the Famagusta District
13TH March 2017, Nicosia
Today we discussed in the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights and Equal Opportunities for Men and Women, the European Institute’s report on Gender Equality, an issue which the Parliamentary Group of AKEL had tabled for discussion in the Committee. This report looks into the period 2007-2014 as regards poverty among women.
According to the Report’s data and figures, 23% of women are faced with the risk of poverty compared with 20% of men. Furthermore, compared with couples with children, single parent families are at risk of poverty more often. The difference in the poverty percentage rates between parents with children and single parent families is significantly high and amounts to 38% in Cyprus, the highest percentage across EU member countries.
We arrived at the same conclusions in the Committee for yet another year. Namely that women in Cyprus, but also in Europe are confronted with poverty in greater numbers.
Unfortunately on the Government’s side a complacency exists that compared to other EU countries we are roughly in the middle of the table as far as the position of women and the risk of poverty is concerned. But this is just one side of the story, the other half is that the position of women in Cyprus today is worse than it was a few years ago. Women in Cyprus faces more frequently and with a greater intensity insecurity at work, uninsured work, reduction in wages and “flexible” working time. Women generally predominate in jobs characterized by low wages in relation with long working hours without holidays and insurance.
While the Minimal Guaranteed Income could have represented a safety net for women and even through this new policy a gender dimension should have been included, it has had exactly the opposite effect given that the issues raised by women and single parents facing the risk of poverty aren’t taken into account.
Surveys and reports of such scale should constitute a guiding beacon for the Government to realize the magnitude of the problem and to put forth policies that can address it effectively.
There is a perception that to tackle the risk of poverty we must through the benefits and economic measures raise very often circumstantially – for a short period of time – the incomes of these families. However even if this policy can provide immediate support for families, it doesn’t solve the problem.
Our own approach and proposal is that the conditions must be created so that not only poverty is combated, but also the causes that generate poverty. That is to say, that such jobs should be created not to reduce poverty rates in public statistics, but that these jobs should offer work with dignified wages, social insurance, equal opportunities for job promotion far from projecting the logic of the dilemma family or career.
