Television Licence Evasion and the Criminalisation of Female Poverty

The purpose of this paper is to identify and address important gaps in criminology regarding the extent and nature of female criminality. A neglected area of academic interest is investigated, namely, offences relating to television licence evasion. The focus is on the growth, over the 1980s and 1990s, in the disproportionate number of women entering the criminal justice system for possessing a television without a licence. Thus, by 1994, 57% of all female criminal convictions related to television licence evasion. A number of factors are reviewed, however, the combination of the growth in poverty over the 1980s and 1990s, women’s domestic routines, and the long-term increase in female-headed households seem to be the most plausible. Various solutions aimed at easing the licence fee burden on poor households are discussed.