Linwood women under stress

Press, 16 December 1988, Page 5

Linwood women under stress

By

DEBORAH McPHERSON

Women in Linwood were under stress because of lack of money and the pressure of raising children, a survey in the . district has shown.

Most of the 135 women asked about their health and recreational needs said stress was a problem because of a lack of money, lack of cheap or free child care, the pressures of family commitments and caring for young children, and of being a single-income family. The survey, “Women of Linwood,” has been compiled by women in the Linwood Community House Collective, the community and women from the women’s drop in centre in Cathedral Square. Nearly all the women who responded to the survey were under pressure from money problems and looking after young children, said one of the Linwood Collective, Ms Faye Jenkins.

Some women at home felt guilty about even having a break away from their children by placing them in child care for a few hours, she said. Others could not afford this, anyway.

Another common stress was a heavy work load, and difficulties connected with jobs, personal relationships, legal hassles and physical problems. Many different women responded to the survey, among them financiallydependent married women, married women in part-time or full-time paid work with families, married women with teen-age or adult children, women in de facto relationships and those on benefits. Two common themes of stress emerged during the research. One was that young mothers did not get enough time to themselves, and the other was that older women, aged over 40, who were in paid employment and still caring for teen-age children also had a lot

of stress. The older women tended to have parttime jobs and do a lot of housework, as well as baby-sitting for grandchildren, if there were any. Many women in this group were also on medication for stress. As a result of the survey, the women in the district were setting up about five support and recreational groups to meet the needs identified, said Ms Jenkins. “That was the aim of the research — to help the women make their own decisions.” The Linwood Community House Collective will also celebrate a shift to new premises in Buckleys Road next Tuesday. The old house in Russell Street, already a base for community support groups in the district, had been running for about 10 years.

Ms Jenkins said the Christchurch City Council had agreed to lease the Buckleys Road house to them rent free.