Can we afford equal pay ?
Sir: I have only just seen the article, 'Can we afford equal pay?,' in your issue of 26 July. The word that caught my attention was 'we.' Very often the writers of articles and letters seem to presume that all their readers will be men. As a woman I must answer: 'We (women) cannot afford unequal pay,' that is, unless we are also charged half-price for the goods and services that we purchase. I see the figures of the esti- mated cost of equal pay as the amount by which women are now being swindled. One might argue that 'we' cannot afford schools, hospitals, education, and the same treatment in law for females. We certainly cannot afford great arma- ments, or the subsidising of aeroplane makers, farmers etc. Yet 'we' make these payments.
The 'cannot afford' argument is a spurious one.
C. M. Cheke 4 Beatrice Court, Empire Way, Wembley Park, Middlesex
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