Top 5 Reasons Women Should Vote #Yes

1)      Proportional Voting Systems increase female participation enriching social policy.

Women only account for just over one fifth of the MP’s in the House of Commons, ranking the UK 53rd globally. Since its inception, and although not perfect, the Scottish Parliament has had substantially higher female representation than the UK Parliament. So, just by voting Yes you will get to live in a more equal country. This is due to a high correlation between proportional voting systems and female participation which in turn leads to greater gender equality in society. More female representation also leads to more child friendly and socially orientated policy. Seven of the top ten nations ranked in terms of gender equality rank highly in many other desirable metrics including being less likely to go to war.

2)      Young people will not be forced to leave Scotland to find work

Many are worried about a Yes vote splitting families within the UK. However, this fear is unfounded as Great Britain is not going anywhere and the people of these Islands will remain as close as we have done for centuries. The current Brain Drain whereby 70,000 people leave Scotland each year, many to find work, is a more likely cause of family separation. An independent Scotland will create jobs by having control over economic policy. Job creation can be stimulated through the control of the tax system, by tailoring employment  policy to our strengths, re-industrialisation, the creation of a Scottish Development bank, having Scottish embassies to promote our produce abroad, higher capital spending, and by bringing together employers, unions and government at the national level. 3)      Universal Child Care

The Scottish Government proposal of having 1140 annual care hours for 1 to 4 year olds would increase female participation in the work force by 6 percent. Other countries that have tried this have found the policy, due to increased tax take and lower benefits, pays for itself. It also means that there is more equality with regards to education so all children get a fairer start in life. The policy is an example of how we can make radical but cost effective changes that support women when we have control over our whole budget.

4)      Equality Legislation Will Be The Responsibility of Scotland

It has been 44 years since the Equal Pay Act was introduced but still women are paid considerably less than men. Under Independence the Scottish Government would have more female representation and would therefore be more likely to work to eliminate the gap. The Scottish Government are committed to ensure at least 40% of the persons on boards of companies and local authorities are female, they have stated that they are willing to legislate to achieve this if necessary. Unlike the UK, Scotland will have a written constitution and citizens will be encouraged to participate in the content of this. This means that ordinary women can work to ensure that gender equality is enshrined into the very structure of the new state.

5)      The End Of Universal Credit

According to a report by The Womans’ Budget Group, the Welfare Reform Bill 2011 may result in greater economic dependence for women and roll back the clocks toward a single bread winner family model. The payment made is a single household payment, often to the man, and as the ‘disregard’ (income ignored before it counts against Universal Credit) is based on joint income, then this means that the second earner’s wages, may reduce the Universal Credit from the first pound, which could result in a decreased incentive to work for that partner. The Scottish Government, if given control of welfare intend to repeal this act and pay benefits on an individual basis which will be good for women by giving many more autonomy as the lower earner in a relationship  is disproportionately the woman.

Images here are by  Steward Bremner and you can purchase his amazing original Indy Prints Here

If you have any other reasons for voting yes that may be of particular benefit to women please leave suggestions in the comments and we can update this blog.

Please check out the Wee Blue Book if you are interested in reading a concise argument for why Scotland Should Be Independent.

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