Gender emerges from the sex of a child and the messages they receive from parents, friends and society generally regarding the ways in which they should behave and react to the world. That means that decisions made by parents and schools as well as what young children observe informs their attitudes that will affect the rest of their lives. At present girls receive 27% less pocket money than boys, a figure remarkably close to the full-time remuneration pay gap for adults (which is no accident). Research undertaken in the past few years also shows a division of domestic labour in children that reflects that of their parents.
Likewise, the decisions we make regarding what our sons can do and what our daughters cannot, create perceptions and real consequences for them as they grow up. Allowing one to ride to their friends’ house and another to not do so, or to buy one a bike at one age the other at a later age, creates differences in self-confidence among other things. This campaign will highlight the critical impact of what has been termed ‘pink’ and ‘blue’ decisions. These seemingly innocuous decisions have real consequences later in life and are relatively easily addressed by demonstrating gender egalitarian parenting and undertaking gender equal domestic labour.