At this season’s annual party conferences, the race has been on to court the all-important female vote. Labour’s promise of an extension of free childcare is a challenge to the coalition, but only if it can deliver.

Over the past five years of the economic downturn, women have been on the front line of the struggle to stay financially afloat. They have borne the brunt of public sector job cuts and pay freezes. Too many have seen their employment rights eroded, and yet they are still the ones, in the majority of households, who have to balance the household budget in the face of falling wages, rising costs and reduced support from government.
Women and children first