## GENDER BUDGETING IN G7 COUNTRIES ## Source details **Canonical URL:** [GENDER BUDGETING IN G7 COUNTRIES](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/pp/pp041917gender-budgeting-in-g7-countries.pdf) ## Other formats - [Markdown version](/-/media/files/publications/pp/pp041917gender-budgeting-in-g7-countries.pdf.md) - [Structured JSON version](/-/media/files/publications/pp/pp041917gender-budgeting-in-g7-countries.pdf.json) --- ### EXECUTIVE SUMMARY — Overview and purpose - Prepared by the IMF at the request of the Italian Presidency of the G7 as a contribution to the G7 initiative on equality; dated April 19, 2017. - Provides an overview of gender-responsive budgeting concepts and practices in the G7 countries and three comparator countries (Austria, Belgium, and Spain). - Notes overall improvement in gender equality since the early 1990s using UNDP’s GDI and GII, while highlighting remaining gaps (gender pay gap, unpaid work burden on women, under-representation in managerial and elected positions). - Observes that in the US female labor participation has been declining since the beginning of the crisis; cyclical and demographic factors account for around three-quarter of this fall, with a remaining gap—particularly since 2012—that remains largely unexplained. ### EXECUTIVE SUMMARY — Fiscal instruments and PFM role - Fiscal policy instruments with significant impact on gender equality: - Taxes and tax benefits to promote female labor supply, including targeted tax reliefs and shifts from family to individual taxation. - Expenditure-side: family benefits, paid parental leave, subsidized child-care, social benefits increasing net return to women’s work. - Demand-side: public subsidies and tax incentives to encourage hiring of women. - Human capital: education and health initiatives targeted to women and girls. - Social insurance and pension reforms accounting for intermittent work histories and part-time work. - Policies to reduce domestic violence and assist victims requiring budget allocations. - PFM institutions and tools highlighted: - Gender budget statements, gender impact assessments, performance-related budget frameworks, and gender audits. - Ministries of finance play an especially important role in promoting and coordinating gender budgeting and analytical tools. - Assessment: - G7 countries have used a wide range of fiscal and non-fiscal policies to reduce gender inequalities but have generally made less progress in developing effective gender-specific PFM institutions. - Embedding a gender dimension in routine budgeting varies across G7 countries and is not systematic. - The proportion of public expenditure explicitly dedicated to gender equality objectives is limited; larger shares contribute indirectly. ### EXECUTIVE SUMMARY — Main policy implications and priorities - Fiscal policy instruments of particular relevance include: - Taxes and tax benefits to increase female labor supply. - Improved family benefits and subsidized child-care to support women’s labor supply. - Social benefits that increase the net return to women’s work. - Incentives for businesses to encourage hiring of women. - Priorities for PFM and institutional action: - Embed gender analysis in routine budgeting. - Strengthen PFM tools: gender budget statements, impact assessments, audits. - Align fiscal policies with gender-equality objectives. - Ministries of finance to lead promotion and coordination of gender-responsive fiscal policies. ### PFM INSTITUTIONS — Role across the budget cycle - Budget/PFM cycle stages to integrate gender elements: - setting fiscal policy goals and targets; - preparation of the annual budget and its approval by the legislature; - control and execution of the approved budget, and the collection of revenues; - preparation of accounts and financial reports; - independent oversight and audit of the budget. - Key institutional instruments and practices: - Budget circulars can require gender reporting, sex-disaggregated data, or allocations for gender-related programs. - Gender budget statements: strategic tool prepared once macro goals are set; used to allocate resources and measure impacts. - Information systems may require modification (budget classification, chart of accounts, FMIS) to produce gender-specific reports. - Performance-related/program-based budgeting focuses on objectives, outputs and outcomes and is better suited to incorporate gender objectives. - Gender impact assessments, baseline analysis, incidence analysis, and needs assessments are important analytical tools. - Ex post evaluation, spending reviews, and gender audits (either focused or as a line of enquiry) are under-used but critical for accountability. - Organizational responsibilities and capacity: - Coordination often fragmented; arrangements include ministries for women, finance-led initiatives, and engagement with legislature, women’s caucuses, and NGOs. - Capacity building priorities: training, production and sharing of sex-disaggregated and gender gap data, methodology development. ### PFM INSTITUTIONS — Findings on legal frameworks, guidance, and reporting - Legal framework: - Few advanced countries and none of the G7 have a comprehensive legal framework for gender-responsive budgeting. - Austria (non-G7 comparator): gender-responsive budgets included in the Constitution (2009) and linked to performance budgeting adopted in 2013. - Spain (non-G7 comparator): since 2009 the annual Draft Budget Law is accompanied by a Gender Impact Report. - Italy: provisions in Public Finance and Accounting Law 196/2009; methodological guidelines expected in 2017. - Gender budget statements: - Among G7, only Canada, France, and Japan publish a gender budget statement. - France: since 2010 annual Budget Law has an annex on equality between women and men. - Japan: publishes June proposals by the Council for Gender Equality before the budgetary process. - Canada: Budget 2017 included the first Gender Statement with gender-based analysis (GBA). - Budget circulars and guidance: - None of the G7 publish a budget circular with specific instructions for implementing gender budgeting principles; some provide generic guidance (example: Japan’s Ministry of Finance for 2017). - Information systems and reporting: - Japan and France have progressed in collecting fiscal data disaggregated by gender though not routinely published in annual budget documentation. - Germany produces an Annual Gender Federal Performance Report and maintains a gender-related database and atlas. - Incorporation of gender perspective into budget classification is not widespread among G7. ### TAX POLICIES AND LINKAGES - Key tax measures across G7: - Individual income tax regimes: Canada, Italy, Japan, and UK. - Tax relief for single or working parents: most or all G7. - Targeted in-work tax credits or benefits: France, Japan. - Revenue-side reforms to reduce disincentives for secondary earners: - Moves from family-based to individual income taxation in UK, Japan, Canada, Italy. - Joint taxation adaptations via tax credits/deductions or options for individual taxation in US, Germany. - Note: Germany’s constitution requires household overall tax burden can never be larger than under separate taxation. - Interaction with expenditure and social policies: - Public employment policies, quotas, equal pay measures, work-life balance, social security and pension reforms, child care support, paid parental leave across G7 (country-specific lists provided). ### LEGISLATURE, AUDIT, AND COORDINATION - Legislature/parliament involvement: - Discussion of gender impact of budgetary decisions is more common in UK, US, France, and outside G7 in Austria and Spain. - Examples: French Minister for Women Rights presents annually; parliamentary discussions in Canada; Parliamentary Budget Office report in Italy. - Audit activity: - G7 countries "seem to lag in the area of audit." - Except for the Canadian Auditor General, few national audit offices published gender budgeting or ex post impact analyses in the last three years. - Coordination mechanisms: - Only Japan among G7 has formal coordination via the Council for Gender Equality (chaired by the Chief Cabinet Secretary; includes 12 Ministers and 12 other members) with authority to coordinate government decisions on gender-related issues. - France: Ministry for Women Right and High Council for gender equality provide coordination and evaluation roles. ### POLICY IMPLICATIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND INSTITUTIONAL ACTIONS - Core premise: - "Well-structured fiscal policies and sound public financial management have the potential to contribute to achieving gender equality." - Recommended fiscal instruments: - Tax and subsidy incentives to increase women’s participation in the labor market, including child and dependent care policies. - Broad-based personal income taxation that avoids overly high effective taxation of secondary workers. - Public health programs addressing gender-specific needs. - Restructured low-income assistance ensuring women and women-headed families’ needs are met equitably. - Social insurance and pension design accounting for limited work histories (maternity/paternity absences, part-time contributions). - Structural reforms to facilitate female employment (flexible work, reduce glass ceilings, active labor policies equally accessible). - Institutional recommendations to embed gender in the budget cycle: - Integrate gender-oriented approach throughout the budget cycle with emphasis on: - (i) Identification of good quality and realistic gender objectives and linkages to budget resources. - (ii) Comprehensive reporting of gender-related performance indicators. - (iii) Generation of sex-disaggregated and gender gap data. - (iv) Skills development and assistance to line ministries on monitoring systems and indicators. - Strengthen integration of gender data into budget classifications and FMIS. - Expand use of ex post evaluation and gender audits. - Enhance leadership role of ministries of finance and improve coordination among ministries. ### APPENDIX II — Country highlights (selected excerpts) - Canada: - Status of Women Canada created in 1976; federal GBA mandatory for all Cabinet proposals since 2015; Budget 2017 included first stand-alone Gender Budget Statement. - Recent measures: income-tested Canada Child Benefit (2016), long-term funding for early learning and childcare, proposed expansion of parental Employment Insurance benefits. - France: - 2014 Law on Gender Equality integrates gender budgeting into policymaking; 2010 annual Budget Law annex on equality; quotas for women in senior positions. - Germany: - Gender equality a mainstream task since 2000; implementation stronger at subnational level (notably Berlin); gender budgeting not adopted federally. - Italy: - Funds for family policies since 2007; Law 2011/214 pension reforms; no national gender budgeting initiative yet but methodological guidelines expected in 2017 and subnational pilots exist since 2000. - Japan: - 1999 Basic Act for Gender Equality; 4th Basic Plan for Gender Equality (2015) with 12 key fields and performance targets to 2020; gender budgeting adopted in 2015; Council for Gender Equality coordinates budget discussions. - United Kingdom: - Mainstreamed gender equality features; April 2017 legislation requires employers with more than 250 employees to publish gender pay gap; Tax-Free Childcare from April 2017. - United States: - No federal gender budgeting initiative; subnational initiatives such as San Francisco exist; GPRA Modernization Act 2010 provides strategic reporting for agencies. - Non-G7 examples noted as advanced practice: Australia (Women’s Budget Statement history), Austria (constitutional mandate 2009; performance budgeting 2013), Korea (National Finance Act 2006; gender budget statements since fiscal year 2010), Spain (Organic Law 3/2007 requiring gender budget statements and impact assessments), Iceland, Sweden, Finland. *International Monetary Fund — GENDER BUDGETING IN G7 COUNTRIES* ### EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ### EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ### Overview and purpose - Prepared by the IMF at the request of the Italian Presidency of the G7 as a contribution to the G7 initiative on equality; dated April 19, 2017. - Provides an overview of gender-responsive budgeting concepts and practices in the G7 countries. - Summarizes recent trends in gender equality in G7 and advanced countries, noting overall improvement but remaining exceptions and gaps. - Surveyed PFM institutions and practices in the G7 and in three comparator countries (Austria, Belgium, and Spain); complemented by other sources including recent OECD and World Bank studies. ### Key content and scope - Sets out the main fiscal policy instruments, both expenditure and tax, that have a significant impact on gender equality. - Provides a conceptual framework for public financial management (PFM) institutions that play an enabling role in implementing gender-responsive fiscal policies: - Instruments discussed include gender budget statements, gender impact assessments, performance-related budget frameworks, and gender audits. - Ministries of finance have an especially important role in promoting and coordinating gender budgeting and associated analytical tools. - Assesses the status of gender budgeting in the G7 countries based on survey responses and complementary studies. ### Trends in gender equality (summary) - Overall indicators for the G7 show improvement since the early 1990s using UNDP’s Gender Development Index (GDI) and Gender Inequality Index (GII). - Specific indicators show a mixed picture: - Women’s participation in the labor force has been steadily increasing in the last two decades in most countries. - On average more women than men obtain a university degree. - Significant remaining gaps: the gender pay gap, the main burden of unpaid work falling on women, under-representation of women in managerial and elected political positions. - In the US, female labor participation has been declining since the beginning of the crisis; cyclical and demographic factors account for around three-quarter of this fall, with a remaining gap—particularly since 2012—that remains largely unexplained. ### Fiscal policy instruments relevant to gender equality - Policies that affect labor supply, demand, human capital, and social protection are highlighted: - Use of taxes and tax benefits (or transfers) to promote the supply of female labor, including targeted tax reliefs and shifts from family to individual taxation. - Expenditure-side policies: improved family benefits, paid parental leave, subsidized child-care, and other social benefits that increase the net return to women’s work. - Demand-side measures: public subsidies and tax incentives to businesses to encourage hiring of women, including from underrepresented or minority groups. - Assistance to low-income families, with some measures having an explicit gender perspective. - Building human capital through education and health initiatives targeting women’s and girls’ needs. - Social insurance and pensions reforms that account for women’s intermittent work histories, greater incidence of part-time work, lower earnings, and parental leave needs. - Policies to reduce domestic violence and assist victims, requiring budget allocations to judicial, regulatory, or administrative programs. - Governments can act as role models through public employment policies (equal employment opportunities, equal wage treatment, quotas in high-level committees, promotion of women to senior management) and through foreign development aid tied to gender objectives. ### PFM institutions and practices - Gender-responsive budgeting encompasses both fiscal policies and PFM practices; the two are complementary. - Emphasis on developing tools to disentangle gender impacts of policies, whether or not the policies’ primary objective is gender-related. - Noted PFM instruments include gender budget statements, gender impact assessments, performance-related budget frameworks, and gender audits (described elsewhere in the paper). ### Assessment of G7 progress and gaps - Well-structured fiscal policies and sound PFM systems have the potential to contribute to gender equality, building on substantial progress already made by G7 countries. - G7 countries have effectively used a wide range of fiscal and non-fiscal policies to reduce gender inequalities. - However, there has generally been less progress in developing effective gender-specific PFM institutions: - Embedding a gender dimension in normal budgeting and policy-making routines varies across G7 countries and is not done systematically. - The proportion of public expenditure explicitly dedicated to gender equality objectives is limited; a larger share of expenditures contributes indirectly to gender equality across many budget areas. - Tax and benefit systems often have unintended gendered impacts, including disincentives for secondary earners (who have tended to be women) under progressive income taxation. ### Main policy implications and conclusions - Fiscal policy instruments of particular relevance include: - Taxes and tax benefits to increase female labor supply. - Improved family benefits and subsidized child-care to support women’s labor supply. - Social benefits that increase the net return to women’s work. - Incentives for businesses to encourage hiring of women. - Ministries of finance play a central role in promoting and coordinating gender budgeting and analytical tools to operationalize gender-responsive fiscal policies. - Embedding gender analysis in routine budgeting, strengthening PFM tools (gender budget statements, impact assessments, audits), and aligning fiscal policies with gender-equality objectives are key priorities to advance the unfinished agenda on gender equality in G7 countries. _International Monetary Fund — EXECUTIVE SUMMARY of "GENDER BUDGETING IN G7 COUNTRIES"_ ### 14. PFM institutions play an enabling role in operationalizing gender-responsive fiscal ### 14. PFM institutions play an enabling role in operationalizing gender-responsive fiscal policies ### Overview of PFM role and budget cycle stages - PFM systems can be adapted to achieve improved gender outcomes at the various stages of the budget cycle. - The five stages of the budget/PFM cycle (stylized overview): - setting of fiscal policy goals and targets; - preparation of the annual budget and its approval by the legislature; - control and execution of the approved budget, and the collection of revenues; - preparation of accounts and financial reports; - independent oversight and audit of the budget. - Key point: integrate fiscal policies relating to gender at all stages; gender-responsive budgeting does not require a new budgeting approach but an explicit recognition of gender elements and adaptation/reinforcement of existing institutions and tools. - Note: In some countries, tax policy follows a different cycle from expenditures (example cited: the United Kingdom, where changes in tax policy are included in an annual Finance Bill, which is separate from the expenditure Estimates), though decision-making on new taxes and spending generally proceeds in parallel. ### Legislation, guidance, and institutional instruments - Frameworks for promoting gender-responsive budgeting may be included in a country’s constitution, budget law, or administrative guidelines. - Budget circulars and administrative guidelines are essential to brief spending ministries/agencies on legal and administrative procedures to implement gender-responsive budgeting. - Gender budget statements: - Provide a strategic tool to implement gender-responsive policies by allocating resources to reach strategic goals and measuring impact and results. - Typically prepared once macroeconomic goals are established; the ministry (or minister) of finance develops and delivers a statement of principles underlying the proposed budget to legislature and public. - Budget circulars can: - State explicitly that gender be reported in budget submissions and be considered during negotiations; - Require ministries to include gender-relevant indicators, provide data disaggregated by sex, or request specific allocations for gender-related programs or projects. ### Fiscal reports and budget documentation - Information systems need adaptation to produce gender-specific reports: - May require modification of the budget classification and the chart of accounts. - Ensure relevant reports are automatically produced through the country’s financial management information system (FMIS). - Outputs should focus on programs/policies with significant impact on gender equality (examples: education, health, social welfare) and on readily quantifiable indicators. - Line ministries and the central budget office should assess the adequacy of budget allocations, including: - Whether available budget is adequate given possibly different needs of men and women; - Whether budget allocations have increased or decreased in recent years; - Whether services provided are affordable for all men and women in the targeted group. - Example indicator questions to guide reporting and assessment: - How many women and men benefit from program services, infrastructure built, cash transfers paid? - Are specific services offered to women and men, and what are respective costs? - Are there significant gaps from a gender perspective in the services provided? ### Performance-related and program-based budgeting - Performance-related budgeting frameworks (often program-based budgeting) are important for promoting gender equality. - These frameworks focus on objectives, outputs and outcomes rather than just input costs, making them better suited to incorporate policy-related objectives, including gender. ### Gender impact assessments and related tools - Gender impact assessments are widely used to assess effects of fiscal (and related) policies on individuals disaggregated by gender. - Examples: - Assess whether boys or girls benefit from public education spending by counting students at different levels benefiting from types of education. - Related tools include: - gender budget baseline analysis; - gender-related budget incidence analysis; - gender needs assessment. - Governments can engage research community and civil society in developing acceptable methodologies. - More complex analyses may require theoretically based models to account for combined households and services that cannot be disaggregated by beneficiary gender. ### Accountability, audits, and ex post evaluation - Ex post evaluations or audits of the impact and effectiveness of gender-related policies can be undertaken after budget execution; often performed by national audit offices. - Spending reviews can assess impact and identify scope for improving efficiency and effectiveness. - Approaches to gender audits: - Make gender equality the primary focus (appropriate for gender-specific programs such as maternal health or remedial equity programs). - Make gender equality one line of enquiry within a broader audit (e.g., assessing whether program eligibility assessment results in women and men receiving benefits proportional to their representation in the eligible population). ### Organizational responsibilities and capacity - Coordination of decision-making on gender budgeting is often fragmented and ineffective due to traditional ministerial divisions. - Organizational arrangements observed: - Some countries establish a gender-related ministry of women to facilitate coordination of policies, cabinet discussion, spending priorities and resource allocation. - In other countries, the ministry of finance leads the gender-responsive budgeting initiative, setting requirements for other ministries and working with revenue authorities to change tax laws/regulations. - Ministries/departments of women’s affairs may work with finance and other entities to ensure due weight for gender-related policies; legislature, women’s caucuses, and NGOs can act as pressure groups. - Capacity building is key: - Training and capacity development programs disseminate good practices; - Skills development and improved production, collection, management and sharing of sex-disaggregated and gender gap data are priority areas. ### Status of gender budgeting in G7 and advanced economies — country highlights - Canada: - Gender equality is a shared responsibility of federal, provincial and territorial governments. - Since 1995 the government has committed to conducting gender-based analysis of legislation, policies and programs, which became a requirement for all Cabinet proposals in 2015. - In Budget 2017, the Government introduced its first Gender Statement including gender-based analysis (GBA). - France: - Issued an organic law on Gender Equality in 2014 integrating gender budgeting into policymaking, requiring gender implications to be assessed in each new law and quotas for women in senior positions. - Since 2010, annual Budget Law has an annex on equality between women and men in fiscal policies and gender-disaggregated amounts allocated in the budget. - Germany: - Federal government considers equality policy a mainstream task integrated into budget-making; since 2000 gender equality has been a guiding principle in the Joint Rules of Procedure of the Federal Ministries. - Implementation more evident at subnational level (notably Berlin). - Italy: - Various laws at local and national level; national budget funds maternal care, day care, incentives for women’s employment, and fighting domestic violence. - A 2016 legislative decree on reform of the State budget calls for introducing gender budgeting on an experimental basis nationally. - Japan: - Promotes gender equality through legislative measures including the Basic Act for Gender Equality of 1999; has recently adopted gender budgeting formally. - Priority areas: increasing women’s role in policy-making and employment, improving work-life balance, relieving poverty, supporting women’s education and health. - United Kingdom: - Has mainstreamed gender equality in fiscal policy in different ways; achievements include higher female employment and entrepreneurship and improved environment for women with children to work. - United States: - Recent legislative measures address violence against women and promote more women in economic and technical leadership roles. - The U.S. is one of seven countries that has not ratified the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). - Example at subnational level: San Francisco’s gender budgeting initiative focused on priorities of women in public service provision and public infrastructure (safe lighting). ### Gender-oriented fiscal policy measures across G7 countries - Expenditure-side measures: - Laws/regulations to increase women’s workforce participation, support child/dependent care, and achieve equal pay for equal work. - Example: Canada Child Benefit—tax-free, income-tested benefit assisting families with child care costs. - Many countries rely partly on subnational government for dependent care and childcare support (example: Germany, Laender). - Revenue-side measures: - Move from family-based to individual income taxation to remove disincentives for second earners (examples: United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Italy). - Some countries retain joint taxation but adapt via tax credits/deductions or options for individual taxation (examples: United States, Germany). - Note: In Germany the constitution requires household overall tax burden can never be larger than under separate taxation, weakening incentive to use individual taxation option. - Targeted relief for low-income families: - Earned income tax credit (example: United States). - Combination of tax and transfers (examples: United Kingdom and other G7 countries). - Canada (2016): amended child care benefit regime with the Canada Child Benefit, income-tested to provide increased support to low and middle income families compared to previous universal benefit. - UK (2015): increased childcare support for low-income working parents via tax allowance for childcare. - Netherlands: targeted relief to secondary earners with a focused impact on gender. *Source: IMF staff; referenced authorities and reports as cited within the source text.* ### 1. Tax Policies ### 1. Tax Policies ### Key tax measures across G7 - Individual income tax: Canada, Italy, Japan, and UK. - Tax relief for single or working parents: Most or all G7. - Targeted in-work tax credits or benefits: France, Japan. ### Interaction with expenditure and social policies (summary of linked measures) - Gender-responsive public employment: All G7. - Quotas in managerial positions: France, Germany. - Public sector equal pay: Canada, France, Germany-Laender, Italy. - Work-life balance measures in the public sector: Canada, France, Italy, Japan. - Support for women in low-income social programs: France, Germany, Italy, Japan. - Education, STEM promotion, elimination of stereotypes: All G7. - Health prevention and age-related issues: All G7. - Child care support: Canada, Japan, UK, Italy, Germany. - Paid parental leave: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan. - Gender-related social security reforms: Canada, France, Italy, UK. - Pensions linked to the number of children: Germany. - Programs to counter domestic violence: All G7. - Gender-responsive foreign aid and cooperation: Canada, France, Japan. ### Human capital, education and health (findings) - G7 countries have generally achieved high levels of education and health, but minority and indigenous groups may lack access. - Programs to encourage women in STEM: Italy, Germany, Japan, and the US have paid explicit attention to women in STEM. - Tackling stereotypes in education: example cited—France. - Health programs addressing women-specific needs: All G7 (pregnancy, prevention of prevalent diseases, aging). - G7 leaders launched the Women’s Initiative in Developing STEM Careers (WINDS) at the G7 Ise-Shima Summit to promote an active role of women in STEM fields, May 26–27, 2016. ### Social security and pensions (findings and reforms) - Recent adjustments to public old-age pension schemes to reflect gender issues: Canada 2017; France, 2014; Italy, 2014; and the UK, 2014. - Reforms address women’s more limited work history, maternity leave, part-time work, lower wages while working, and other aspects affecting public pensions. ### Domestic violence and public sector role - All G7 countries have implemented specific programs to counter domestic violence; budgetary resources have been increased. - France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the US have also taken regulatory and administrative initiatives. - Public sector role model expectations: quotas in decision-making bodies (France regulatory and penalties since 2014); focus on equal pay in similar jobs (France and Germany); flexibility measures to improve work-life balance (Canada, France, Italy, Japan). ### External cooperation - All G7 countries support developing countries to achieve gender equality objectives, notably on violence against women and inclusion of gender objectives in aid programs (education, health, infrastructure). - Some countries have specifically allocated resources from aid budgets to gender-related objectives. ### Sources referenced within the content unit - Beijing reports, OECD (2016), recent developments. --- ### PFM Institutions Enabling Gender-Responsive Budgeting ### Overall assessment - G7 countries have used a wide range of fiscal and non-fiscal policies to reduce gender inequality but have generally made less progress developing PFM institutions to implement these policies effectively. - IMF survey conducted of PFM institutions and practices in the G7 and three non-G7 comparators (Austria, Spain, Belgium); survey results summarized in Table 2 and Appendix 2 (as referenced). ### Legal framework (findings) - Few advanced countries and none of the G7 have a comprehensive legal framework for gender-responsive budgeting. - In the absence of such frameworks, gender-related policies are often discussed within the normal budget process in an ad hoc fashion, relying on political consensus and top-level commitment. - Country-specific notes: - Italy: provisions for gender budgeting introduced in the Public Finance and Accounting Law 196/2009; government is considering whether to adopt gender budgeting in 2017 as part of the budget process. - Italy regional governments: several have passed laws to introduce pilot projects or integrate gender budgeting into standard budget preparation. - Germany: federal government assigns equality issues to each ministry; some states (notably Berlin) have introduced gender budgeting initiatives. - Austria (non-G7 comparator): gender-responsive budgets included in the Constitution (2009) and linked to performance budgeting adopted in 2013; mandates all ministries and budget holders to include one gender-responsive objective in their performance budget. - Spain (non-G7 comparator): since 2009 the annual Draft Budget Law is accompanied by a Gender Impact Report; all draft bills must include a gender impact assessment report based on Ministry of Finance instructions. - Belgium: general principle of gender mainstreaming is based on a law, but it does not explicitly provide a framework for gender budgeting; documents and procedures implement some aspects. ### Gender budget statements (findings) - Among G7, only Canada, France, and Japan publish a gender budget statement. - France: since 2010 the annual budget law contains an annex about fiscal policies’ contribution to equality between men and women and gender-disaggregated allocations. - Japan: publishes each June proposals by the Council for Gender Equality before the budgetary process to influence line ministries’ funding requests. - Canada: the budget statement of 2017 included the first gender-based analysis as a stand-alone chapter, with an overview of gender challenges and an assessment of Budget 2017 measures from a gender perspective. - Non-G7 examples: Australia produces a Women’s Budget Statement; Spain a Gender Impact Report considered part of the General State Budget; Belgium requires justification for budget requests that include gender-related spending; Austria, Finland, Iceland, Sweden also publish gender-related budget statements. ### Budget circulars and guidelines (findings) - None of the G7 produce a budget circular with instructions for spending ministries on implementing gender budgeting principles. - Some countries have issued more generic guidelines to assist ministry priority setting and budget preparation. - Japan’s Ministry of Finance issued guidelines for the 2017 budget highlighting general social issues including certain gender considerations to initiate discussion on structuring the budget accordingly. - Gender impact assessment guidance often comes from bodies outside central budget authorities (expert consultative groups, informal circulars), e.g., Belgium and Spain (inter-agency working groups). - Italy expected to develop a new methodology on gender budgeting in 2017. ### Information systems and reporting (findings) - Japan and France have made the most progress in systematically collecting fiscal data disaggregated by gender, but do not publish these data in the annual budget documentation. - Japan: gender-disaggregated data collected by the Cabinet Office and published on their website annually; information also in the White Paper on Gender Equality reported to the legislature annually. - Germany: Annual Gender Federal Performance Report prepared by the Federal Chancellery for legislative discussion; dedicated website on performance budgeting progress; database of gender-related budget information; gender and diversity atlas identifying regional distribution of gender-related indicators. - Spain: collection of gender-related data is responsibility of the Institute for Women and Equal Opportunities and the Institute for Fiscal Studies. - Norway and Sweden have more generalized procedures for collecting gender-disaggregated statistical information. - Several countries use stakeholder surveys to assess perceptions of gender policy impacts. - Incorporation of gender perspective into budget classification is not widespread among G7; France and Spain noted specific programs linked to equality of opportunities and gender impact reporting. ### Performance budgeting (findings) - Few countries undertake performance-based budgeting related to gender; Austria is among the most advanced but lacks an overarching systematic framework of gender indicators for all ministries. - Country examples: - Japan: Council for Gender Equality assesses programs and policies in the 4th Basic Plan for Gender Equality; ministries must submit budget proposals consistent with medium-term performance targets in the Plan; Council periodically monitors targets and publishes progress reports. - Italy: legislation and practices demonstrate efforts to highlight gender objectives through program budgeting. - UK: government reviews public expenditure program impacts on gender and other inequalities within the biennial expenditure review. - US: under the 2010 GPRA Modernization Act, gender-related objectives established for some agencies with annual monitoring and published progress for some information. - France: when a gender impact assessment is performed, line ministries create or use performance indicators (example: share of female participants in training activities for the Ministry of Education). ### Gender impact assessments (findings) - Systematic producers of gender impact assessments: Canada, France, and the UK; these assessments are taken into account in budgetary resource allocation. - Canada: gender-based analysis mandatory for all proposals to Cabinet since 2015; federal government committed to using gender-based analysis since 1995. - UK: the 2010 Equality Act requires ministries to assess gender impact of tax and expenditure policies before submitting proposals to the Council of Ministers. - France: all ministries are obliged to prepare gender impact assessments for new policy proposals. - US: gender impact assessments made occasionally depending on the proposal. - Comparable practices in non-G7: New Zealand and Ireland require gender impact statements in relevant cabinet or government memoranda. ### Budget execution, monitoring and control (findings) - Reports on budget execution during the fiscal year or at year-end in G7 countries generally do not contain information on gender-related expenditures or tax policies. - Exception: Japan collects these data via the Cabinet Office and publishes them on their website annually. *International Monetary Fund — GENDER BUDGETING IN G7 COUNTRIES (excerpt).* ### 40. The involvement of the legislature/parliament in the discussion of the impact of ### pp041917gender-budgeting-in-g7-countries - 40. The involvement of the legislature/parliament in the discussion of the impact of ### Legislature/parliament involvement and audit - Involvement of the legislature/parliament in discussion of the impact of budgetary and other fiscal decisions related to gender equality is "more common" among the countries surveyed, particularly in the UK, the US, and France, and outside the G7 in Austria and Spain. - Examples and recent activity: - In France, the Minister for Women Rights appears before the legislature every year when presenting the government’s program on gender equality. - In most surveyed countries, reports on the gender impact of the budget are discussed in national legislatures. - In Italy, the Parliamentary Budget Office published recently a report on gender budgeting practices in the country. - In Canada, both the House of Commons Standing Committee and the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights discuss the implementation of gender-based analysis by the Federal Government. - Audit activity: - G7 countries "seem to lag in the area of audit." - Except for the Canadian Auditor General, few reports concerning gender budgeting analysis and/or the ex post impact of budget or tax policy decisions on gender equality have been published by national audit offices in the last three years. ### Coordination of decision-making within government - Only Japan among the G7 has put formal institutional mechanisms in place to coordinate discussions within the government on gender-related fiscal policies or budget allocations. - Coordination is articulated through the Council for Gender Equality: - Chaired by the Chief Cabinet Secretary. - Comprises 12 Ministers and 12 other members that include CEOs of leading Japanese companies, leaders of local governments, and academics. - The Council "has the authority to coordinate within the government decisions on all gender-related issues." - In France: - The Ministry for Women Right plays a coordination role. - Since 2013, a High Council for gender equality also contributes to the evaluation of relevant policy issues. ### Policy implications and conclusions - Core premise: - "Well-structured fiscal policies and sound public financial management have the potential to contribute to achieving gender equality." - Key findings: - The G7 countries have achieved a relatively high degree of gender equality but there remain significant gaps, especially with regard to key labor market indicators and unpaid work. Fiscal policy can contribute to achieving unmet goals of equality. - Gender-responsive approaches to PFM in the G7 countries have not yet become embedded within the normal annual routines of budgeting and policy-making, although some useful analytical tools related to gender have been developed and applied. - Ex ante and ex post gender impact analysis (and related tools) are critical to assess that resources are adequately allocated and used to achieve the intended goals. - There should be a healthy discussion that includes government ministries, parliament, and civil society to agree on the best approaches. - Challenges of effective gender budgeting mirror broader modern budgeting challenges: need for clear, multi-dimensional budgetary impact analysis, multi-annual framework, audit and performance evaluation mechanisms (for example, spending reviews) that feed directly into the policy-making and budget cycle with gender-related goals in mind. ### Fiscal policy instruments to address gender gaps - Guidance for selecting instruments: - "Policy instruments should be selected to address the main gender gaps in each country and take account of challenges and trade-offs in implementation, as well as fiscal sustainability implications." - Specific fiscal policy instruments recommended for more systematic adoption: - Tax and subsidy incentives that increase women’s participation in the labor market, including child and dependent care policies. - Fiscal incentives that strike a better balance on specific women’s and men’s needs in education and eliminate stereotypes. - Broad-based taxes, such as the personal income tax, that avoid an overly high effective rate of taxation of secondary workers to avoid disincentives for second workers in families. - Expenditure policies and programs such as: - Public health programs aimed at meeting gender-specific needs. - Restructuring of low-income assistance programs to ensure specific needs of women and women-headed families are met, and are treated equitably with two-parent families. - Social insurance programs, in particular pensions, designed to take into account situations of limited work histories, such as maternity or paternity-related absences or part-time contributions. - Continued implementation of structural reforms that are gender-oriented, for example to: - Facilitate female employment when hampered by regulations or rigidities in the labor market that limit women’s access to part-time jobs, create glass ceilings, or lessen internal flexibility of work schedules. - Ensure active labor policies (including retraining or upskilling facilities) are equally available to women and men. ### Institutional recommendations for embedding gender in the budget cycle - Integrate a gender-oriented approach throughout the budget cycle: - Performance-based budgeting from a gender perspective should focus on: - (i) Identification of good quality and realistic objectives and establishment of linkages between gender objectives and budget resources. - (ii) Comprehensive reporting of gender-related performance indicators to monitor progress and identify gaps. - (iii) Generation of sex-disaggregated and gender gap data. - (iv) Skills development, including assistance to line ministries in developing performance monitoring systems and indicators. - Gathering data on objectives and impact of gender-related policies could substantially improve effectiveness of gender-responsive interventions: - Requires stronger focus on integrating reporting of gender-related data within budget classifications and financial management information systems. - Includes adding gender-specific information in budget documents. - The use of ex post evaluation and gender audit "remains under-developed in G7 countries." - Ministries of finance could play a stronger leadership role in institutionalizing gender within the conceptual and decision-making framework of budgeting and PFM. - Mechanisms of coordination among ministries regarding design and implementation of gender-related budgetary policies would benefit from improvement. ### Appendix: questionnaire (scope) - The Appendix includes the IMF Fiscal Affairs Department’s questionnaire used to assess gender-responsiveness of PFM systems in G7 countries. It covers institutional framework, budget preparation, budget execution, monitoring and control, and other topics such as: - Legal framework provisions related to gender budgeting. - Arrangements and responsibilities for coordinating gender-related decisions. - Presence of a Gender Budget Statement. - Use of gender impact assessments in policy approval. - Inclusion of gender budgeting guidance in budget circulars. - Frameworks for program/performance budgeting with gender targets and publication of data. - Collection and publication of fiscal data disaggregated by gender. - Incorporation of gender perspective in budget classifications. - Inclusion of gender-related information in budget execution reports and annual financial statements. - Parliamentary hearings or reports in the last three years discussing budget or tax policy impacts on gender equality. - National audit office publications in the last three years analyzing ex post impacts on gender equality. *International Monetary Fund — GENDER BUDGETING IN G7 COUNTRIES* ### Appendix II. Gender Budgeting in G7 and Other Selected ### Appendix II. Gender Budgeting in G7 and Other Selected Countries ### Canada - Federal, provincial, and territorial governments share responsibility for gender equality; education, social services, health care, and administration of justice are primarily provincial/territorial. - Each province/territory has appointed a minister responsible for the Status of Women. - Status of Women Canada (SWC) created in 1976 to coordinate policy on the status of women. - Since the 1995 Beijing Declaration, the federal government committed to gender-based analysis of legislation, policies, and programs; later expanded to “GBA +” to include intersecting identity factors (e.g., ethnicity, income, sexual orientation). - Departmental Action Plan on Gender-Based Analysis in 2009 provides a blueprint for increasing accountability; SWC leads implementation and capacity building; Gender Focal Points in departments/agencies facilitate network building. - Reported achievements: immigration policy changes, enhancement of employment equity legislation, improvements in overall circumstances of women (Canada, 2014, p. 5). - Persisting challenges: gender pay gap, occupational segregation, violence against women and girls, low participation of women in key leadership positions in business; heightened vulnerability to poverty for Aboriginal women, immigrant women, senior women, and women with disabilities (Canada, 2014, p. 5). - Unpaid work gap: women spend double the number of hour men do caring for children (Canada, 2014, p. 9). - Programs: work-family balance supports (Canada, 2014, p. 9); labor market skills and employment programs targeting Aboriginal, elderly, youth, and immigrant populations (Canada, 2014, pp. 11–13); programs for women in skilled trades and entrepreneurship (Canada, 2014, p. 14); initiatives to combat violence against women and human trafficking. - Statistics Canada produces gender-based analysis and the statistical compendium Women in Canada every five years. - Recent measures (since 2016 and Budget 2017): income-tested Canada Child Benefit; long-term funding for early learning and childcare; proposed expansion of parental Employment Insurance benefits; funding for a federal strategy to address gender-based violence. - Gender budgeting status: no formal gender budgeting initiative adopted in any jurisdiction; since 2017 federal budget accompanied by a stand-alone Gender Budget Statement providing overview of gender challenges and impacts of budgetary policies from a gender perspective. - Civil society: Alternative Federal Budget (until 2016) included a chapter on gender equality; civil society organizations active in promoting gender budgeting. ### France - 2014 Law on Gender Equality integrates gender equality into every policy and ministry; gender mainstreaming required in assessment of each new law. - 2014 law establishes quotas for women in senior management positions in the civil service, politics, and the private sector. - Policies to promote gender equality in work and family life, employment, to address gender-based violence, and gender stereotypes. - High Council for Equality between Women and Men (since 2013), an independent consultative body, monitors parity, violence, stereotyping, rights in international context, and health; selects laws to review/evaluate for gender equality, assesses differential gender impact, provides recommendations, monitors progress, and provides expertise. - Budget process: since 2010, annual Budget Law includes an annex on equality between women and men assessing fiscal policies and the budget from a gender-disaggregated perspective. - Gender Budget Statement covers all governmental agencies, summarizes executive’s roadmap to gender equality, and contains some performance indicators. - Gender budgeting status: not formally adopted, but some gender budgeting tools are implemented. ### Germany - Realization of equal rights is a mainstream task in federal government (Germany, Federal Republic of, 2014, p. 6); since 2000 gender equality a guiding principle in Joint Rules of Procedure of the Federal Ministries. - Funds for promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment present in nearly all federal budget items. - Identified challenges: dependent care burdens on women, increasing women in STEM, reconciling training/careers with family life, increasing women in management positions. - Measures: strengthened services for domestic violence victims; combatting human trafficking; legislation supporting enhanced child care and parental leave; equal pay measures and transparency legislation for large companies to report on pay; services supporting women’s entrepreneurialism. - Laender: gender equality policy units in departments; Gender Equality Acts and regulations enacted; regular exchanges among Laender. - Gender budgeting status: not adopted at federal level; Berlin and a number of states (Laender) have launched gender budgeting initiatives. ### Italy - Since 1995, national budgets and EU resources allocated to equal opportunity policies, maternal care, nurseries, kindergartens, and other services. - 2007 Budget Law created a fund for family policies to support motherhood and fatherhood and protection of female immigrants (Italy, 2014, p. 8). - 2008 measures: incentives to promote female employment through tax breaks; fund for fighting violence against women; fund to promote gender statistics (Italy, 2014, p. 8); fund to promote women’s entrepreneurship. - Continued policy focus: encouraging girls in STEM, addressing gaps in female employment, combatting gender-based violence; women have one of the lowest employment rates in Europe and remain highly occupationally segregated (Italy, 2014, p. 11). - Law 2011/214: reforms to pensions, raising women’s retirement age and creating a fund for women. - Gender budgeting status: no national gender budgeting initiative yet, but prospects improving; methodological guidelines to apply gender analysis to results of the financial year expected to be defined over 2017, with potential integration into the General State Budget Framework. - Subnational practice: since 2000 experimenting with gender budgeting at local and regional levels; network of provinces and municipalities spreading good practices and promoting gender-sensitive expenditure indicators (Italy, 2014, p. 12). ### Japan - 1999 Basic Act for Gender Equality established; Council for Gender Equality created. - Abe administration priority: create a society where all women can express individuality and fully exercise abilities. - 4th Basic Plan for Gender Equality (2015): emphasizes women’s active participation across society, increasing recruitment and promotion of women in public and private sectors, transforming labor practices including long working hours; calls for gender-disaggregated data and sets 12 key fields with performance targets to be achieved by 2020. - Policies: subsidies and tax incentives to encourage businesses to hire more women; improve childcare leave benefits; 2016 Act on the Promotion of Women’s Participation and Advancement in the Workplace requires employers to produce action plans for promoting female employment. - Public procurement measure introduced to certify employers who perform well on female employment; local governments required to develop comprehensive plans for promoting female employment. - Domestic violence: Prevention of Spousal Violence and the Protection of Victims Act guides government measures in coordination with ministries. - Gender budgeting status: adopted in 2015 for the central government to address gender inequalities and promote transparency; lacks formal legal basis but supported politically. - Gender budgeting procedures: coordination mechanism centered on the Council for Gender Equality, which provides guidance to line ministries at start of budget cycle and coordinates budgetary discussions on gender issues; 4th Basic Plan provides framework for monitoring performance of gender-related programs. ### United Kingdom - Government mainstreams gender equality; Minister for Women and Equalities appointed since 1997 and sits in Cabinet. - Achievements: increased female employment and entrepreneurship; flexible working and shared parental leave environment; met Barcelona childcare targets and ranked first on parents’ ability to work flexibly (United Kingdom, 2014, p. 5). - April 2017 legislation: requires employers with more than 250 employees (public and private) to publish their gender pay gap. - Equal pay audits required for organizations losing equal pay claims. - Emphasis on increasing women on FTSE company boards; percentage of female directors in FTSE 350 companies at highest level to date. - 2016 four-year strategy to end violence against women and girls, including sexual harassment. - Tax-Free Childcare from April 2017: up to £2000 childcare support per child under age 12 per year (or up to £4000 for disabled children under 17). - Pension reforms: reducing qualifying years, introducing a care taker’s credit, single-tier pension for new retirees after April 2016, bringing forward parity in state pension for women to the early 2040s instead of the early 2050s. - Social care reforms to support elderly people, which predominantly benefits women. - Gender budgeting status: no formal gender budgeting initiative; some elements exist such as public sector equality duty under the 2010 Equality Act and the Women and Equalities Select Committee in Parliament. ### United States - Recent legislation touches women’s health, combating violence against women and human trafficking, promoting women’s leadership, and attracting women/girls to STEM. - Policy mix: direct gender equality policies (violence against women, equal pay, paid leave initiatives, support to women-owned businesses) and indirect policies (part-time worker rules, family leave benefits, affordable health care, higher education access). - Persistent gaps: labor force participation and pay gaps; limited paid leave availability compared with many advanced nations; women exceed men in college completion but are underrepresented in STEM. - U.S. status on international treaty: one of seven countries that has not ratified the CEDAW. - Gender budgeting status: no federal gender budgeting initiative; subnational initiatives exist (notably San Francisco). - Information and institutional supports: GPRA 2010 Modernization Act requires federal agencies to report annually on strategic targets and has produced useful indicators; Senate has discussed budgetary dimensions of gender policies. ### Non-G7 Advanced Countries (Selected) - Australia: - Pioneer in adopting gender budgeting in 1984; introduced annual Women’s Budget Statement. - Categorized public expenditures by target (women-specific, women’s civil service employment, remaining expenditures) and established a baseline for government commitment. - Early achievements: increased commitments to low-income families and child care for working women. - Formal commitment waned; Australia no longer considers itself a gender budgeting country, but civil society (National Foundation of Australian Women) continues gender-based budget assessments. - Austria: - Introduced gender budgeting in context of public management reform in 2013; constitutional changes in 2009 require gender budgeting at all government levels. - Requirement: every federal line ministry set at least one gender-related objective out of a maximum of five outcome objectives, related to specific tasks. - Framework includes gender needs assessment, baseline analysis, ex ante and ex post gender impact assessments, gender-disaggregated incidence analysis; central budget authority provides guidelines and annual budget circular; staff training and information exchange; some gender-disaggregated data available. - Reform impacts are ongoing; one outgrowth is income tax reform to reduce higher effective tax rate on secondary earners to encourage women’s labor force participation and full-time work. - Belgium: - Wide legal framework for gender budgeting supported by administrative practice and gender equality legislation. - Annual budget circular contains a section on gender issues; ministries/agencies required to identify a gender equality objective in important fiscal policies. - Implementation spans all government levels; progress on gender-related performance indicators and targets remains limited. - Finland: - Basis for gender budgeting in Budget Circular and other PFM practices; line ministries apply gender perspective to resource allocation and target setting to promote gender equality and transparency. - Iceland: - Adopted gender budgeting through gender equality law in 2008 and organic budget law in 2015; applies at central and some municipal levels. - Areas of focus: agricultural subsidy distribution, waiting times for medical exams, distribution of paid and unpaid work, gender pay gap. - Methodologies: integration into performance setting, ex ante and ex post gender impact assessments; agencies exchange best practices; time use surveys supplement gender-disaggregated data. - Achievements include reforms to income tax and measures to strengthen employment and financial independence of women; applied to development cooperation budgets with increased share focused on gender equality and women’s empowerment. - Korea: - Substantive gender budgeting initiative applying to all government levels; National Finance Act (2006) requires submission of gender budgets and gender balance reports from fiscal year 2010 onward. - Requirements: gender budget statements analyzing impact on women and men (spending and revenues); gender balance sheet to assess whether budget benefits women and men equally and remedies discrimination. - Women’s Focal Points set up in key ministries; Korean Women’s Development Institute (KWDI) initiated research and methodology integrating gender into MTEF, program budgeting, and performance budgeting. - Achievements: improved infrastructure for women and measures to reduce unpaid work burdens to facilitate greater workforce participation. - Spain: - Gender policy debates at national and regional levels focus on health, education, avoiding stereotypes, improving work-life balance, wage gap, and women’s representation in decision-making. - Fiscal policy: gender perspective used to expand labor supply and reduce income inequalities via individual income taxation and family-based tax reliefs. - Reforms in social security and pensions provide families with credit for parental leave and motherhood; increased budget to eradicate domestic violence and sexual exploitation. - Legal framework: Organic Law 3/2007 requires government to prepare a gender budget statement and a gender impact assessment for new policy proposals, including economic and budgetary impact. - Parliamentary commissions on equality exist; regions/local governments have gender initiatives (e.g., Andalusia’s G+ Program and gender audits since 2007). - Sweden: - Recent focus on policy areas including education, labor market, positions in management to strengthen economic growth and social progress. - Budget documents include information on budgetary impacts and distributional analysis accompanies the fiscal bill. *Appendix II. Gender Budgeting in G7 and Other Selected Countries* ### References ### pp041917gender-budgeting-in-g7-countries - References ### Academic and edited volumes - Allen, Richard, Richard Hemming, and Barry H. Potter (eds.). 2013. The International Handbook of Public Financial Management (London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan). - Arbino, Bruno, Pau Baizan and Carlos Eric Delclos, 2016, “The Effect of Gender Policies on Fertility: The Moderating Effect of Education and Normative Context”, European Journal of Population, vol. 32, pp. 1-30. - Borkar, Shweta, 2016, “Women Workforce Participation in India: A Study”, International Journal of Science and Research, vol. 5, issue 8, pp. 769-771. - Clements, Ben, Ruud de Mooij, Sanjeev Gupta, and Michael Keen (eds.). 2015. Inequality and Fiscal Policy (Washington DC: IMF). - Duflo, Esther, 2012, “Women Empowerment and Economic Development,” Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. 50, pp. 1051-79. - World Bank, 2011, World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development (Washington, DC: World Bank). ### Gender budgeting and monitoring guides - Budlender, Debbie, 2015, Budget Call Circulars and Gender Budget Statements in the Asia Pacific: A Review, UN Women (New York: UN Women). - Elson, Diane, 2006, Budgeting for Women’s Rights: Monitoring Government Budgets for Compliance with CEDAW (New York: UNIFEM). - UNIFEM, 2010, Gender-Responsive Budgeting in South Eastern Europe (New York: United Nations Development Forum for Women). - Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2016, Gender Budgeting in OECD Countries (Paris: OECD). - United Nations, Office of the Special Advisor on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, Gender Mainstreaming Strategy for Promoting Gender Equality. ### IMF working papers, notes, and related IMF materials - Chakraborty, Lekha, 2016, “Asia: A Survey of Gender Budgeting Efforts,” IMF Working Paper 16/150 (Washington, DC: IMF). - Quinn, Sheila, 2016, “Europe: A Survey of Gender Budgeting Efforts,” IMF Working Paper 16/155 (Washington, DC: IMF). - Stotsky, Janet G., Sakina Shibuya, Lisa Kolovich, and Suhaib Kebhaj, 2016, “Trends in Gender Equality and Women’s Advancement,” IMF Working Paper 16/21 (Washington, DC: IMF). - Stotsky, Janet G., 2016, “Gender Budgeting: Fiscal Context and Current Outcomes,” IMF Working Paper 16/149 (Washington, DC: IMF). - Elborgh-Woytek, Kristin, Monique Newiak, Stefania Fabrizio, Kalpana Kochhar, Kangni Kpodar, Philippe Wingender, Benedict Clements, and Gerd Schwartz, 2013, “Women, Work, and the Economy: Macroeconomic Gains from Gender Equity,” IMF Staff Discussion Note 13/10 (Washington, DC: IMF). - Lagarde, Christine, 2013, “Dare the Difference,” Finance & Development, Vol. 50, pp. 22-3. ### National reports and government responses - Canada, 2014, Canada’s National Review: Implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995) and the Outcomes of the Twenty-Third Special Session of the General Assembly (2000) in the Context of the Twentieth Anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the Adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. - Canada, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, 2016, 2016 Alternative Federal Budget (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives). - France, 2014, Rapport de Mise en Oeuvre par la France de la Plateforme de Pekin (Pekin + 20) à la Commission Economique des Nations Unies pour L’Europe (Paris). - Germany, Federal Republic of, Permanent Mission to the United Nations, New York, 2014, Response of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany to the UNECE Questionnaire on the Implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995) and the Outcome Document of the 23rd Special Session of the General Assembly (2000) (Berlin). - Italy, Government of, 2014, Response of the Italian Government to the UNECE Questionnaire on the Implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995) and the Outcomes of the 23rd Special Session of the General Assembly (2000). - Japan, 2014, Report on Implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995) and the Outcomes 23rd Special Session of the General Assembly (2000) in the Context of the 20th Anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and Adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. - United Kingdom, 2014, Response of the Government of the United Kingdom and its Devolved Administrations to the UNECE Questionnaire on the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995) and the Outcome of the Twenty-Third Special Session of the General Assembly (2000). - United States, 2015, United States Report on the Implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in the context of the Twentieth Anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the Adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. ### International organizations, panels, and thematic studies - UNHLP, 2017. Leave No One Behind: Taking Action for Transformational Change on Women’s Economic Empowerment (New York: United Nations High-Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment). - UN-WIDER, 2014, Position Paper-Aid and Gender Equality (Helsinki: UNU Wider Institute for Development Economics Research). - Thomas, A., and P. O’Reilly, 2016, “The Impact of Tax and Benefit Systems on Workforce Participation Incentives on Women,” OECD Taxation Working Papers, No. 29, (Paris: OECD). - PEFA Secretariat. 2016. The PEFA Framework (www.pefa.org). ### Other publications and reports - San Francisco, Department of Public Works, unpublished report, http://sfgov.org.dosw.department-public-works. - Sharp, Rhonda, 2016, “Following the Money in Pursuit of Gender Equality,” Australian Outlook Digest, March 8, Australian Institute of International Affairs. - Budlender, Debbie, 2015, Budget Call Circulars and Gender Budget Statements in the Asia Pacific: A Review, UN Women (New York: UN Women). *International Monetary Fund — GENDER BUDGETING IN G7 COUNTRIES — References* --- _Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/pp/pp041917gender-budgeting-in-g7-countries.pdf_