Katrín Anna Guðmundsdóttir Gender Budgeting - Introduction -
Gender Budgeting: Where justice and fairness go hand in hand with economic wellbeing
What is it? In gender budgeting you combine: Knowledge of gender discrimination Knowledge of public finances Editorial from a leading Icelandic newspaper, June 4th, 1926: There is perfect equality here between men and women, and has been for a long time.
How did it start? First project in Australia 1984 Women s budgets Task: Assess policies, programs and expenditures for their impacts on women and girls British Women s Budget Group from 1989 Bejing women s conference 1995 European Council Expert committee on GB in 2002 GB in over 100 countries but in varying degrees
Basis Constitution of the Republic of Iceland Article 65 Everyone shall be equal before the law and enjoy human rights irrespective of sex, religion, opinion, national origin, race, colour, property, birth or other status. Men and women shall enjoy equal rights in all respects. Act on Equal Status and Equal Rights of Women and Men Gender mainstreaming shall be observed in all policy-making and planning on the part of the ministries and the public institutions operating under their realm. The same shall apply, as appropriate, to all decision-making within ministries and institutions.
Proposal New Organic Budget Law Gender budgeting and equality. The Minister, in cooperation with the Minister of Equality, has a leading role in making a plan for gender budgeting that shall be used in the budgeting process. The Budget Proposal should contain a report of the propals's effects on objectives for the equal status of men and women.
The Process 2005-2006 First pilot project Part of Nordic cooperation Not continued 2009 Implementation starts Steering Committee appointed Information gathering and planning 2010-2011 Pilot Projects At least one pr ministry Results in the 2012 Budget Statement 2011-2014 Three Year Plan Main Policy Areas, etc
Three Stages of Gender Budgeting 1. Analyze the impact on gender 3. Embed gender systematically in all budgetary processes 2. Reformulate budgetary policies & distribution of resources
Care Economy Unpaid Paid Housework Care work Public sector NGOs Private sector
Effects of Budgets Increase gender discrimination Maintaine gender discrimination Facilitate equality
Agricultural Agreements: Subsidies MINISTRY OF INDUSTRIES AND INNOVATION
Agricultural Agreements: Subsidies Milk Sheep Vegetables Men Women Mixed
National Hospital Waiting lists for cardiac imagaging and for hip- and knee replacements MINISTRY OF WELFARE
Cardiac Imaging Method: Klatzer s six step approach Analyzed data from 2009-2010 Patients on waiting lists for Cardiac Imaging are categorized based on estimated need for surgery 1 week, 1 month, 3 months Waiting period calculated for each group Results: Women waited longer than men in all groups
Statistics # on waiting list 1 week 1 month 3 months # of men 870 6 (1%) 211 (2%) 653 (75%) Average waiting period 44 12 (7) 26 (15) 50 (36) Average age 63 62 63 63 # of women 458 5 (1%) 78 (17%) 375 (82%) Average waiting period 49 13 (9) 33 (23) 53 (31) Average age 65 68 66 65 Women's proportionally longer waiting period 13% 8% 24% 7% Note: Not a reliable waiting period for 1 week group no women in the group the second year.
What next? Results indicate there is a need to examine the gender differences for the waiting lists further Registration of information needs to be changed. Register: change in urgency, patient postpones surgery, date of operation, date of offering the surgery, etc. Examine the processes around the surgeries Take a closer look at gender based differences for each health problem (f.ex. heart disease is different for women and men)
Directorate of Labour Unemployment Benefits MINISTRY OF WELFARE
Employment participation Women 77,6% Men 85,5%
Men receive more payments than women More women in part time jobs Men receive more means-tested benefits than women Due to higher salary Women receive more child benefits Indicates that women with children they provide for are more often unemployed than men in the same position Part time unemployment benefits More women than men The analysis makes the cost of unequal distribution in paid and unpaid work + the gender pay gap visible
Why Gender Budgeting? Informed Decisions Decision making is informed by the analysis of gender impact Benefits of Gender Budgeting Progress towards equality Better utilization of public funds Improved economic management GB often results in improved work processes Discrimination is costly and has a negative economic impact on societies. Public decisions effect where people live, birth rate, job participation, etc. Equality has still not been achieved but most of us wish to live in an equal society.
Questions?