Commenting on the release of unemployment claimant figures for Cardiff showing a far higher increase in female claimants than elsewhere in Wales, Welsh Lib Dem Assembly Member for Cardiff Central and Shadow Minister for the Economy, Jenny Randerson AM said:
"Women in and around the Cardiff area seem to be suffering disproportionately in this economic crisis. The huge increases in the numbers of claimants over the last year are deeply worrying for families. While Cardiff saw slightly lower total rises than the Wales average, women seem to be doing far worse. It is clear that the wave of redundancies in the last year has disproportionately affected the female workforce . This is clearly due to the large redundancies in particular organisations in Cardiff .
"One thing that is clear is that the economy is on the rocks and people are really suffering. The Government must accept a large part of the blame for this and stop continually trying to pass the buck."
The number of claimants in Cardiff increased from 4,355 in December 2007 to 6,735 in December 2008, an increase of 2,380, or 54.6%. This compares with an increase of 56.3% for Wales as whole over the same period.
When the difference between December 2007 and December 2008 is broken down by gender the increase for males is 51.0% and females is 67.9%. This compares with 60.1% for males and 45.0% for females for Wales as a whole.
