The Weight Of A Woman
3thirds | 29.11.2006 13:40 | Gender
In it's April rewriting of the rules for social fund loans the IRS ( Independent Review Service) class a woman,(traditional partner) at one third the person as a man.In their jargon a man,(the traditional claimant) has a "weighting "of one.And his partner,(wife)has a "weighting"of a third.
I asked some women at random what they thought of this.Linda D said "It makes you feel your of less value." Joan Traynor said "I'm not surprised.Of all the equal oppertunity laws the government has always treated women as lesser people".Jackie P said."I once tried to make my own claim and was told by the DHSS (now jobcentreplus) i could not.They told me my husband had to claim for me.I thought that was wrong".
The IRS is the proxy buffer between the secretary for work and pensions John Hutton.But at the end of the day it is John Hutton who makes the rules .The IRS are acting on his instructions.The link below will take you to the website of the IRS were you can download the leaflets describing the above rule.Some files there are for jobcentreplus employees and decision makers.Though complicated they make intresting reading.The file uploaded contains the highlighted rule above.
http://www.irs-review.org.uk/w&tmat/sips/sips.htm
I asked some women at random what they thought of this.Linda D said "It makes you feel your of less value." Joan Traynor said "I'm not surprised.Of all the equal oppertunity laws the government has always treated women as lesser people".Jackie P said."I once tried to make my own claim and was told by the DHSS (now jobcentreplus) i could not.They told me my husband had to claim for me.I thought that was wrong".
The IRS is the proxy buffer between the secretary for work and pensions John Hutton.But at the end of the day it is John Hutton who makes the rules .The IRS are acting on his instructions.The link below will take you to the website of the IRS were you can download the leaflets describing the above rule.Some files there are for jobcentreplus employees and decision makers.Though complicated they make intresting reading.The file uploaded contains the highlighted rule above.
http://www.irs-review.org.uk/w&tmat/sips/sips.htm
3thirds
Additions
hmmmm
29.11.2006 16:54
Here is what the blurb says:-
"Households of different sizes are given different weightings. Household refers to the people included in your benefit claim.
There are three possible weightings:-
• If you are the only person in your household your application has a weighting of one;
• A household containing you and your partner has a value of one and a third;
• A household containing you and at least one child aged under 18 has a weighting of two and a third."
Either I am hallucinating or this passage uses the words "partner"and "person", not "woman" and "man". There is nothing to stop a woman making this claim and her husband being the other "third". Or perhaps even a lesbian or gay couple making a claim and their other half being the "partner". Surely the word "partner" does not traditionally refer to any gender? Woman refer to their partners as a partner.
Is this passage just not a way of explaining that a couple living together are entitled to slightly more money than a single person rather than double the amount because their living costs are only slightly more?
"Households of different sizes are given different weightings. Household refers to the people included in your benefit claim.
There are three possible weightings:-
• If you are the only person in your household your application has a weighting of one;
• A household containing you and your partner has a value of one and a third;
• A household containing you and at least one child aged under 18 has a weighting of two and a third."
Either I am hallucinating or this passage uses the words "partner"and "person", not "woman" and "man". There is nothing to stop a woman making this claim and her husband being the other "third". Or perhaps even a lesbian or gay couple making a claim and their other half being the "partner". Surely the word "partner" does not traditionally refer to any gender? Woman refer to their partners as a partner.
Is this passage just not a way of explaining that a couple living together are entitled to slightly more money than a single person rather than double the amount because their living costs are only slightly more?
One third, or perhaps one, depending on how you look at it
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