Get involved

involved All over the world, women are likely to be poorer than the general population. The same is true in the UK and other European countries. Women working part time in the UK, for example, earn nearly 40 per cent less than men, while female pensioners have incomes that are 40 per cent lower than those of male pensioners.

That's not fair. Get involved and be moved to change it. Right here and now.

If you’re involved with women living in poverty in the UK, enrol on a GenderWorks training course and find out how to make the Gender Equality Duty work for you.

Read the latest issue of the GenderWorks newsletter (PDF) and find out how we’re working to improve the lives of women living in poverty across Europe, and what you can do to help us. If you'd like to be sent the newsletter directly, let us know.

Read our latest blog and tell us about your own thoughts and experiences by posting comments at the end. Or if there's something you'd like to blog about, contact us.

If you live in the EU, get in touch with your national contact point for social protection and social inclusion issues, and tell them what they should be doing to tackle the problems faced by women living in poverty where you are.

Let's make Europe work for women

In 2008, men occupy on average 77 percent of parliamentary seats in the European Union.

In 2009, European voters will elect the new European Parliament, and the new European Commission will be nominated. This presents a real opportunity to reach parity democracy - the equal representation of women and men - within the European Union institutions.

If you'd like to improve the presence of women in European decision-making and help put pressure on political parties and decision makers to introduce measures to advance parity, take a look at the lobbying toolkit produced by the European Women's Lobby as part of its 50/50 Campaign - No modern European democracy without gender equality.

The "50/50 Campaign for Democracy" urges decision-makers, political parties, civil society, trade unions and all European voters to act for a more gender-balanced family picture of Europe in 2009. For more information visit the 50/50 Campaign blog.

Get in there!

The Community Development Foundation has launched a free guide to representation and participation in Europe. Produced by CDF's project "My Voice in Europe", which aims to capture the voices of women and young people, "Get in there!" looks at how and why Europe might be relevant to you, and offers guidance on playing an effective role as a representative.

To download your free copy, visit the My Voice in Europe web page.

Get Fair

The Get Fair campaign is coordinating a constituency-based lobby of MPs on 26-27 June 2009, to ensure ending poverty in the UK is on the agenda of all major political parties.

Government statistics have revealed that 12.8 million people are living in poverty in the UK today – that's one in five of us. The campaign wants you to tell your MP that this is wrong, and it's time to GET FAIR.

For the lobby to be successful, the campaign needs to find people in as many parliamentary constituencies as possible who are willing to act as local organisers. Could you help? It would involve bringing together people from a range of local organisations to plan the lobby jointly.

Get Fair is holding briefing events which will provide you with everything you need to know – from detail on the campaign and the purpose of the lobby, to how to organise a delegation and put across an effective case to your MP.

If you’re interested, go along to one of the briefing events in your area – check out the dates and venues on www.getfair.org.uk, and register by calling 0161 236 9321 or emailing info@getfair.org.uk.

The GenderWorks project is supported by the European Community Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity (2007-2013). The information contained in it does not necessarily reflect the position or opinion of the European Commission.