not surprised.
Well, with a defeatist attitude like that how do you ever expect to get to 28?
why ?
Because if you try to tell some of the men in this country that women are hard done by in this country, they actually won’t believe you.
And your reactions pretty much sum it up.
so no real evidence then
just the claim that women are hard done by
show me some evidence, and I will agree or disagree, based on that evidence
Well, there’s a piece above telling you how we compare to a bunch of other countries. I take it that’s not adequate for you.
Women form the greater proportion of unpaid carers.
They get the biggest economic hit from having children.
They are most likely to be inadequately covered for pension linked to the economic hit of career interruption and, occasionally, career termination.
They are still slightly more likely to be raped than men are and rape conviction statistics are pitiful.
They are still more likely to be victims of domestic violence.
They are still more likely to 1) be paid less for equivalent jobs than men and 2) be in lower paid jobs.
That’s before you get to the day to day invidious sexism that women have to tolerate from men or get accused of not being able to take a joke.
Report above stated we compared badly. It’s not adequate proof for you so I doubt this will either.
I would say the list is flawed if the US is top 4 - massive poverty and individual debt in the states, frightening healthcare, deluded population - oh wait maybe we do belong on that list…
Hang on till I get my popcorn - this could be fun.
I think these surveys are utter rubbish.
You cannot average out amungst everyone.
If you want to work and have any ambition then the US provides a platform to live a very good life. In my opinion…this counts for a hell of a lot.
(somehing than cannot be said of Ireland right now)
Ireland fifth best place to live? Was the survey restricted to bondholders?
+1
A very valuable point there Boston Irish.
The idea that we all need to do well, just because we are people is a (messed up socialist) idea that doesn’t wash with the Americans. You do well not be cause of what you are or who you are but because of what you do and how you do it.
American value quality and results. It’s a good place for a person who is interested in working being able to go and do work and get recognized for that work and effort.
These lists are a bit too general, especially for a place as large and diverse as the US.
Personally there are many places I would move to in the US tomorrow and stay forever if I could only convince most of my family and friends to move also! For example, California (exclude LA maybe). Despite the fact that people are maybe a bit too image obsessed it has the perfect climate, great beaches, is very clean and the people are actually very friendly (exclude LA again!)
On the other hand Tralee is a materially nicer place to live than Detroit for example with considerably higher standard of living.
Same goes for the UK. South West England has some incredible places (Cornwall, Bath etc), while Birmingham, Cardiff are not quite as appealing
Same goes for cities. Some people love places like Manhattan, Central London…the convenience, Museums, Parks, Shopping, Restaurants at every turn etc etc. Others cant spend more than 3 days in either place without getting a headache.
I guess it all depends on personal preference and where you are in life at the time. Kids obviously change the dynamic alot. One of the best things about Ireland is that you can get a very good education without paying a fortune every year.
As for women, between the abortion ferry and the world’s largest battered wife shelter one might understand why Ireland ranks 29th.
I think ireland is pretty good place to live in even in spite of the current problems but 5th in the world seems exagerated to say the least.
I think we got false expectations as our economy was boosted by artificial multinational money running thru the system sending the domestic economy into cuckoo land. Our low tax corpoate policy is very dubious morally for me …it is about us getting things to disadvatage of the common good (european World )…and all the parties are signed up to it including the shinners as we have become dependent on it.
We messed up and created problems for ourselves .mostly the responsiiblity of FF culture but everybody participated in greed and i don’t think labour or fine gael manifesto in previous two elections were recommending restraint.
If we meet the european average we are doing well …29th in the world not that bad …is violence against women that bad in ireland…i thought mediterranean countries were much worse. The abortion issue may skew the figures in the UNDP mind.
As i live in the 3rd World …i laugh when i hear the hyperbole about ireland having a 3rd world health system …in the 3rd world people live 20 -30 years less and they don’t have doctors …normally health workers who can diagnose and treat a limited number of problems.
Bottom line is in world Terms is ireland still has quaility of life in the top 10-20% so stop looking at the glass as always empty.
Hopefully we learn a little from the current crisis to focus on real things than the quick buck mentality of recent years.
I know there is more to inequaility that domestic violence but one of the posters talked about us having the biggest refuge for women …which may be true and i would not deny a problem exists but i don’t think it worse than other european countries.
I think in equaility in pay can be explained quite a bit by women ( by choice ) putting family before career and i don’t think this is neccessarily a bad thing. In most relations i know women have prioritised the family but this does not stop them being normally the strongest and most rounded people in the family and irelands higher birthrate may add to this.
On the family planning front i presume non availability of abortion is a factor …while i think it should be available until
we get a proposal to have it available we won’t know the views of women locally.
What are the other criteria they have measured ?
What are the really bad things about how women are treated in Ireland ?
I can imagine the upper echelons of business are more difficult but in most other fields ?
Most women i know are educated ,smart and very capable with better support networks … it is men
who may be more at a loss …
Calina: “They are still slightly more likely to be raped than men are and rape conviction statistics are pitiful.”
Until men and women are at equal risk of being raped we won’t have any equality in this country!
Women do very well in Ireland compared to most countries, believe me, earning power is high, strongly represented in solid professional jobs, equal rights, more females in higher education than males…there are a lot more things to criticise Ireland on than this point.
The fact is the abortion law could be changed if women themselves voted to, however many obviously do not want it to be changed!
Many women prefer to stay at home after having children, they can enjoy seeing their young children grow up and bonding with them more, that is good for the family too. Can a man breastfeed a child? Is the average man a better mother than the ‘mother’, I hardly think so. You can’t just split the statistics without taking a family viewpoint into account. Also, many countries do not support women with maternity leave or put pressure on them not to have children if they are in a business job, this is less prevalent in Ireland.