The Conservative minister made his remarks before the launch of the government's social mobility strategy next week. Assessing the causes for social mobility, he said: "The feminist revolution in its first round effects was probably the key factor. Feminism trumped egalitarianism. It is not that I am against feminism, it's just that is probably the single biggest factor."

Yvette Cooper, the shadow equalities minister, who has warned that the government's cuts would have a disproportionate impact on women , called on the MP to withdraw his remarks. "The idea that working women are responsible for persistent child poverty or youth unemployment in disadvantaged areas is just shocking. David Willetts should quickly withdraw this rubbish and face up to the real problems his policies are causing for young people and women who want to get on."

On the other hand, journalist Cristina Odone, blogging on the Telegraph site, stated Willetts wasn’t wrong to suggest that feminists were responsible for the circumstance of working class men. "But not because they have stolen their jobs. Feminists – or at least the kind that have gained the upper hand in this varied movement – have undermined working class men with their philosophy that all males are expendable ... This man-hatred has not only been taught, it has been rewarded: successive Labour governments have satisfied the feminists in their ranks by conceiving a benefits system that rewards single mothers who don't let the father of their children live under the same roof."