THE SNP’s manifesto is unabashedly feminist and puts health and care at the heart of Scotland’s future.
As the First Minister said during yesterday’s launch, she is a “feminist to her fingertips” and that shines through in the policies put forward in her party’s Scotland’s Future document. The NHS, which has a significantly higher number of female employees than male, will be given a £2.5 billion boost, with spending increased by 20% to help the health service bounce back from the pressures of the pandemic – as well as a 4% pay rise for staff.
The creation of a National Care Service, again where the majority of employees are female, and introducing a national wage for those who have worked tirelessly to take care of the vulnerable people in our society can only be welcomed.
READ MORE: How pro-independence parties at Holyrood lead way on female representation
The Women’s Health Plan contained in the manifesto will help improve services and reduce health inequalities for women and girls, with a miscarriage service tailored to the needs of women, three days of paid leave after a miscarriage (a policy recently adopted in New Zealand) and a whole other host of specialist services. There is a particular focus on endometriosis, a condition which is commonly misunderstood and under-diagnosed, and promising to reduce the waiting times for diagnostic tests from eight years to 12 months is a huge step in the right direction.
For working mothers, the SNP have set out a raft of measures to tackle the so-called “motherhood penalty” to encourage family-friendly and flexible working. The commitment to ending violence against women and girls is also cemented in the programme, and backed by a three-year £100m funding scheme to support frontline services and focus on the prevention of domestic abuse and violence against women and girls.
The SNP government rightly kept the issue of domestic abuse in the public eye during lockdown, when women were more at risk – it’s heartening to see that this work will continue.
Finally, the idea of a women’s business centre, providing financial support, advice and training to women looking to start or grow a business, shows that women won’t be left behind as Scotland moves out of the Covid crisis.
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