WBG submission to the Comprehensive Spending Review 2025

The UK is still grappling with the cumulative impact of Covid-19, Brexit, austerity, and the cost-of-living crisis. Rising child poverty, long NHS waiting lists, and economic inactivity disproportionately affect women, who are more likely to take on unpaid care work when public services fail. Without urgent investment in social care, early education, and healthcare, more women will be pushed out of paid work, deepening the gender employment gap and harming the economy.

The Chancellor is right to focus on investment, and the rise in average GDP spending to 2.6% is a positive sign for the economy. However, prioritising this investment in physical infrastructure alone overlooks a fundamental barrier to building a thriving economy.

Economic growth is being constrained because people cannot access adult social care, timely medical treatment, or afford their children’s nursery fees, driving up economic inactivity as a result. These services – our social infrastructure – are at breaking point. Waiting for the economy to grow before investing in them misses a critical fact: public services are the backbone of a strong economy, not just a consequence of it.

The argument that we must wait for growth before investing in social infrastructure contradicts the Government’s recognition that investing in physical infrastructure is an engine for growth. Rather than wait for economic growth before investing in social infrastructure, such investment is vital to building a strong economy. Moreover, in 1945, the UK built the welfare state while facing unprecedented debt, recognising that a healthy, supported population is the foundation of a thriving economy.

Today, the same principle applies. Research shows that spending on care creates 2.7 times as many jobs as the same investment in construction while producing 30% fewer emissions ¹ . Prioritising investment in care, education, and health will not only drive employment and productivity but also build a fairer more inclusive economy.

And while we recognise that the Government faces financial challenges, further cuts are not the answer. Austerity has already played a decisive role and significantly impacted women’s living standards, gender and other inequalities, poverty levels, health outcomes, and the essential public services that sustain our economy and wellbeing. And our research shows that women on low incomes, women from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, Disabled women, and families with children are among those hardest hit ² .

Instead, a balanced investment approach is needed. Expanding and strengthening social infrastructure alongside decarbonising physical infrastructure will create a more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable economy. And this needs to be funded by fair, progressive taxation whereby individuals and companies make their proportionate financial contribution to a well-functioning society across generations.

This submission sets out the critical role of investment in social infrastructure, the gendered impact of current policy, and the urgent reforms needed. It also outlines how this can be fairly funded and the accountability measures required to ensure these policies deliver real change.

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