Poll: Is it patronising that women are being urged to vote in the next election?

Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison, will say that many women are yet to get on the electoral register, risking having no voice over who will win in May.

He will tell Unison's women's conference in Southport that the "growing crisis" across Britain's communities had hit women the hardest.

"Cuts in tax credits are costing women four times as much as men, the child benefit freeze five times as much and cuts in childcare support seven times as much.

"In Britain, there are women fleeing domestic violence who cannot find the financial support to stay in a women's refuge thanks to the Government's spending cuts.

"Pregnant women are being forced into shared accommodation with their newborn children because new housing rules say they cannot be housed until the child is born.

"The NHS is changing - and things aren't getting any better. There are fewer staff, longer waiting lists for treatments, now ambulances can't cope with the demand. We've got hospitals in crisis, A&E departments missing targets and not enough beds for patients.

"It is disgraceful that the gender gap is widening again after painfully slow progress over the past 40 years. There are a huge number of women workers who desperately want and need to work full-time but are forced to take part-time jobs - or declare themselves self-employed - just so they can make ends meet.

"And if this wasn't enough, low-paid workers are now expected to pay employment tribunal fees if they have been treated unfairly at work," he will say.

Women's votes were crucial because so much is at stake, he will add.