Taking my daughter to move into her new flat in uni and knowing she needs to work to supplement her student maintenance grant, I start to look at businesses nearby- all the time thinking about only about the walk home from work, the route she might take and proximity to her flat. It dawns on me that once the Scottish winter nights come in at 3.30pm the chances of waking home safely from a job in daylight is nigh on impossible. I’m not there to pick her up after work & the meagre hourly rates don’t allow for a taxi home. As a parent I naturally think it’s now to dangerous for a young girl to take up the kind of bar or restaurant work that I did, maybe I have to cover the shortfall. And I think of all the women who risk serious danger to work in these jobs .. are many of them also thinking it’s not worth the risk to work in a pub, a restaurant, fast-food cafe, hotel?
So now there’s another addition to the reasons why womens’employment is inherently sexist ( inequal pay , childcare provision etc) Now, it just too dangerous to earn a living through jobs that involve walking home in the dark. I’m so angry!