Gender Budgeting
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What does gender budgeting have to do with women’s and men’s lived realities?
Take a look at this recent picture of the European Council’s members. How many women and how many men can you see?
Consider "women’s and men’s lived realities" by looking at the composition of the European Council, and ask yourself: Why do you think there are more men than women?
In EU Member States, both paid work and unpaid care work exists. These different kinds of work are performed by both women and men. Consider:
How are paid work and unpaid care work divided and distributed between women and men in most societies?
Do women and men do the same kinds of work? Are there any differences? What are these differences?
Recognising and valuing unpaid care work is important in understanding the whole spectrum of an economic situation in a country or region. Paid work and unpaid care work depend on each other. For example, to be able to work in the formal economy (paid work), we all need support from the care economy (unpaid care work), such as;
- food to be prepared;
- clean clothes;
- being cared for when ill.
Only a fraction of these needs is suppliedby public or market services; a lot is still provided in households. Whether we produce this for ourselves or someone else does it for us, it is work that is often not paid. If it is not paid it is not included in the formal economy, and this work is very unequally shared by women and men. Hence, it is often forgotten. However, it has major implications and contributes greatly to the overall economy and the functioning of our societies.
Watch Professor Diana Elson explain the gender gap in unpaid work and its importance for the economy
Have a look at ILO’s video on care work
Public financial allowances, such as paid parental leave, child benefit, carers’ allowances, agricultural subsidies and rural development funds, are important for creating equal opportunities for workers with family responsibilities, and preventing pension gaps.
A public finance management policy that includes 'publicly financed parental leave schemes' can help parents reconcile work and family life, and maintain their connection to the labour market through a guaranteed return to their job. Additional policies are often needed to provide and encourage greater parity between paternity and maternity leave, and to support mothers with a more rapid return to the labour market, including raising awareness about shared parenting, and public investments in accessible and good-quality care facilities for children and older people. According to Christine Lagarde, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund at that time, ‘countries can lift up women by adopting more pro-female … approaches. Such policies include moving more from family to individual taxation; providing more affordable childcare and parental leave; and providing a flexible working environment’.[1]
How do we tend to value different kinds of work?
If you stay at home to care for others – an older relative, a child, a sick person, etc. – you are very often not paid for the work you perform. In effect, your work is not even visible. Nor is it recognised. But people’s well-being depends on this work. In many societies, the ‘private sphere’ is still considered the ‘appropriate’ sphere for women.
By contrast, if you are a successful politician or a manager at the European Union, your work is highly visible. It is both recognised and well paid. Work in the ‘public sphere’ is both seen and remunerated. In many societies, the public sphere’ is considered the ‘appropriate’ sphere for men.
Inequalities between women and men are found not only in the paid and unpaid spheres. They cut across other dimensions as well, such as health, power, education, and time use in general. One of the most brutal manifestations of inequalities between women and men is violence against women, which affects all sectors and spheres of life. Eradicating violence against women is a priority of the EU and its Member States. This commitment is affirmed in the EU’s principal gender equality policy[1] documents. Most recently, the EU reaffirmed its commitment by signing the leading regional legal instrument on gender-based violence, the Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (the Istanbul Convention). Eradicating violence requires adequate budgets, which should be considered within the EU Funds' programming cycle.[2]
To learn more about gender inequalities in your country, consult EIGE’s Gender Equality Index. There, you can access statistics on a range of spheres, including work, money, knowledge, time, power, health, violence against women and intersecting inequalities, i.e. when gender inequalities interact with other socio-demographic characteristics such as age, nationality, religion, sexual preferences orientation and disabilities.
Here are some examples of gendered patterns of employment, care work and violence in four EU Member States[3]:
 |
Czechia |
|---|---|
|
Employment rates |
- The full-time equivalent employment rate is 46 % for women and 65 % for men.
- 10 % of women work part-time, compared with 3 % of men. |
| Care-related time use | - 33 % of women care for family members for at least 1 hour per day, compared with 20 % of men.
- 86% of women and 12% of men cook and do housework every day. |
| Violence against women | - 32 % of women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence at least once since the age of 15.
- Violence against women costs Czechia an estimated EUR 4.7 billion per year through lost economic output, service utilisation and personal costs. |
 |
Estonia |
|---|---|
|
Employment rates |
- The full-time equivalent employment rate is 50% for women and 64% for men.
- 15 % of women work part-time, compared with 7 % of men. |
| Care-related time use | - 35 % of women care for family members for at least 1 hour per day, compared with 31 % of men.
- 76% of women and 45% of men cook and do housework every day. |
| Violence against women | - 34 % of women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence at least once since the age of 15.
- Violence against women costs Estonia an estimated EUR 590 million per year through lost economic output, service utilisation and personal costs. |
 |
Germany |
|---|---|
|
Employment rates |
- The full-time equivalent employment rate is 40 % for women and 59 % for men.
- 47 % of women work part-time, compared with 11 % of men. |
| Care-related time use | - 50% of women care for family members for at least 1 hour per day, compared with 30 % of men.
- 72% of women and 29% of men cook and do housework every day. |
| Violence against women | - 35 % of women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence at least once since the age of 15.
- Violence against women costs Germany an estimated EUR 36 billion per year through lost economic output, service utilisation and personal costs. |
 |
Spain |
|---|---|
|
Employment rates |
- The full-time equivalent employment rate is 36 % for women and 50 % for men.
- 25% of women work part-time, compared with 8% of men |
| Care-related time use | - 56 % of women care for family members for at least 1 hour per day, compared with 36% of men.
- 85% of women and 42% of men cook and do housework every day. |
| Violence against women | - 22 % of women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence at least once since the age of 15.
- Violence against women costs Spain an estimated EUR 21 billion per year through lost economic output, service utilisation and personal costs. |
Footnotes