Dr Louise Lawson, a lecturer in social policy at the University of Glasgow, has highlighted how heatwaves reveal and intensify existing social inequalities, particularly affecting women and low-income families. In a letter responding to a Guardian report on the disproportionate impact of extreme heat, she argues that discussions of extreme weather often overlook the unequal social conditions that shape people’s ability to cope.
Women Bear the Brunt of Disrupted Routines
Lawson’s research on women in multiple low-paid jobs did not directly examine climate change, but it showed how women juggle low-paid work and unpaid care with little capacity to absorb unexpected shocks. When heatwaves strike, existing inequalities are intensified, often hitting women hard. As Charlotte Buxton noted in the original article, women are often left to pick up the pieces caused by school closures, disrupted routines, and increased care demands. For families already struggling with rising living costs, keeping homes cool, travelling safely, or taking time off work creates further pressures. Those caring for children with additional or complex needs, who already face significant gaps in support, find heatwaves compound the practical, emotional, and financial pressures they already experience.
Call for Investment in Care and Social Security
Lawson argues that climate resilience cannot be separated from issues of care, poverty, and gender equality. She states: 'We need greater investment in childcare, social care and social security, alongside recognising the value of unpaid care work, performed mainly by women.' She quotes Emily Dickinson from the original article, who said, 'We feel like we’re the peasants that just have to deal with it.' Lawson calls this feeling 'profoundly wrong in one of the world’s richest countries,' noting that the problem is not a lack of resources but a choice not to value care, adequately support families, or protect those on low incomes from preventable hardship. 'Heatwaves do not create these inequalities, they expose them,' she concludes.
