Women asylum seekers from the All African Women’s Group (AAWG), together with Global Women Against Deportations (GWAD) and Women Against Rape (WAR), have submitted evidence opposing the government’s proposed “earned settlement” scheme, warning that it will deepen discrimination and push women into exploitation, violence and destitution.

AAWG is a 100-strong self-help group of women asylum seekers and refugees, the majority of whom are mothers and survivors of rape, domestic violence, trafficking and war. Drawing on testimony from a December 2026 webinar attended by more than 70 women and supporters, the groups say the proposals are “inherently sexist and racist” because they tie permanent residence to income and paid employment while ignoring women’s unpaid caring work and the discrimination women face in the labour market.

A Policy Built on Inequality

Women, particularly women of colour and migrant women, are paid significantly less than men. They are more likely to be concentrated in low-paid, insecure and part-time work, often because of caring responsibilities, trauma, disability and immigration restrictions.

One woman explained:

“It’s not easy for me to start working as soon as I win my status so that I can bring my daughter over. As someone who’s been through trauma, it takes years to heal. This is not fair because we can’t raise this amount of money when you have been mentally broken.”

The groups argue that as long as government policies tolerate pay inequity and discrimination, it is unjust to require people to “earn” their right to stay.

Unpaid Caring Work Erased

The proposal fails to recognise unwaged caring work — raising children, caring for disabled relatives and sustaining communities — work overwhelmingly done by women. Women’s unpaid labour has been estimated at over £1 trillion annually to the UK economy, yet it is treated as “economically inactive.”

A mother of a disabled child said:

“Raising kids, especially a child with a disability, is hard work. It’s a full-time job. How can I look for a job when I have a vulnerable child who needs me? If I can’t cope, social workers will take my son. How am I going to survive mentally and physically?”

Temporary Status Fuels Exploitation

Women described how temporary immigration status traps them in low-paid and abusive working conditions. Fear of losing status makes it harder to challenge exploitative employers or violent partners.

“If we depend on our job to get the right to stay, how can we fight bad bosses? We will be trapped in poverty. Men know it is harder to say no when we have children to feed.”

Repeated short-term grants of leave, high renewal fees and delays leave women and children in prolonged insecurity. Children with temporary status face barriers to education and integration.

Punishing Mothers, Separating Families

The income thresholds attached to settlement and family reunion were described as devastating for mothers separated from their children.

“Without my daughter, I’m not complete. My mind is in two places. Every time she asks, ‘Mummy, when are you coming to get me?’ — it breaks me.”

Women said prolonged separation undermines their physical and mental health and ability to rebuild their lives. The groups warn that the earned settlement proposal, combined with recent changes to refugee family reunion policy, will make family reunion even harder and mothers are more likely to be permanently separated from their children.

Poverty Criminalised

Women reported that government-imposed poverty is then used against them. Claiming benefits — often unavoidable due to trauma, being a single mother or discrimination in the job market and other barriers to waged work — is treated as a “stain” on character and can lengthen the route to settlement.

“When mothers live in poverty, social services judge us and say we are neglecting our children.”

Campaigners say the policy punishes women for destitution created by the asylum system itself.

Survivors of Violence Penalised

Many women affected are survivors of rape, trafficking, domestic violence and war. Trauma and disability can make immediate employment impossible. The stress of temporary status exacerbates physical and mental health conditions.

The groups warn that the proposal would penalise survivors for delayed disclosure of rape, delayed recovery and reduced earning capacity — compounding the violence they have already experienced.

 A debt owed to women

Speakers also highlighted the context of colonial exploitation and the ongoing economic extraction of resources from the Global South. Women argued that requiring them to “earn” settlement ignores that trillions of pounds is owed for the wealth stolen from their home countries over centuries of colonialism and up to the present day.

One woman said:

“British colonialism stole a lot from Africa. We are owed for what has been taken. We have every right to be here.”

Rising Racism and Fear

Women from AAWG have also documented a rise in open racism and hostility in daily life, including abuse on the bus, in shops and other public spaces. They speak particularly of the targeting of their children. They warn that leaving people on insecure temporary status fuels this racism.

Demands

AAWG, GWAD and WAR are calling on the government to:

• Scrap the earned settlement proposal
• Publish the Equality Impact Assessment and all evidence underpinning the policy
• Recognise unwaged caring work as a social and economic contribution
• End pay inequity
• Remove income thresholds for settlement and family reunion
• Grant secure immigration status independent of income, employment or marital status
• Ensure women’s safety and family unity are not conditional on earnings

The groups also call for serious consideration of policies such as a Guaranteed Care Income[i] that would recognise and compensate the vital unwaged work women do raising children and sustaining families and communities.

“This proposal tells women that unless we earn enough money, we do not deserve safety, stability or our children,” said a spokesperson from the All African Women’s Group. “It entrenches sexism and racism in immigration law and will push women further into poverty, exploitation and violence. We will not stop campaigning until it is scrapped.”

Read our full submission here

[i] https://globalwomenstrike.net/careincomenow/