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Your report (‘We feel like the peasants’: women and low-income families bear brunt of heatwave, 26 June) highlights an overlooked dimension of climate inequality. Too often, discussions of extreme weather focus on infrastructure while neglecting the unequal social conditions that shape people’s ability to cope.

My research on women in multiple low-paid employment did not examine climate change directly, but it revealed how women juggle low-paid jobs and unpaid care with little capacity to absorb unexpected shocks.

When heatwaves strike, existing inequalities are intensified and often hit women hard. As Charlotte Buxton notes in the article, women are often left to pick up the pieces created 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 away from work can create further pressures. For those caring for children with additional or complex needs, who already face significant gaps in support, heatwaves can compound the practical, emotional and financial pressures they already experience.

Climate resilience cannot be separated from questions of care, poverty and gender equality. If we are serious about adapting to a warming world, we need greater investment in childcare, social care and social security, alongside recognising the value of unpaid care work, performed mainly by women.

“We feel like we’re the peasants that just have to deal with it,” Emily Dickinson is quoted as saying in your article. This feels profoundly wrong in one of the world’s richest countries. Not because we lack resources, but because we have chosen 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.
Dr Louise Lawson
Lecturer in social policy, University of Glasgow

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