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---

### Introduction and macroeconomic relevance
- Empowering women to reach their full economic potential supports reducing gender inequality and has "tremendous significance on the advancement, competitiveness, and future-readiness of economies worldwide."
- Empirical associations identified:
  - Closing gender gaps linked with higher economic growth, lower inequality, increased productivity, better financial sector outcomes, and greater financial stability.
  - Global GDP could increase by US$12 trillion by 2025 through reducing gender gaps and promoting women’s economic empowerment.
  - Policy reforms to increase women’s participation in the labor force estimated to increase growth by: US by 5 percent, Japan by 9 percent, the UAE by 12 percent, and Egypt by 34 percent.
- COVID-19 risks widening gender gaps because:
  - Women more likely to work in social sectors requiring face-to-face interactions and in the informal sector.
  - Increased unpaid household work and care burdens from school closures.
  - Young girls more likely to drop out of school to supplement household income lost due to COVID-19.

### Recent legal reform trends and persistent gaps
- Between 1960 and 2010, around 280 legal reforms were enacted to improve gender equality (IMF and World Bank data).
- Persisting legal impediments and measured gaps:
  - 20 economies have laws preventing women from working in specific jobs.
  - 49 economies do not have laws preventing sexual harassment in the workplace.
  - About 30 percent of economies have at least one constraint on women’s property rights.
  - Around one-fifth of economies restrict women’s agency and freedom of movement.
  - 19 economies allow men to prevent their wives from working.
  - 43 economies do not grant widows the same inheritance rights as widowers.
  - 16 economies accord lower evidentiary value to women’s testimony as opposed to men’s testimony.
- Discrimination outcomes:
  - The gender wage gap causes an average national income loss of 15 percent in OECD countries, 40 percent of which is a result of entrepreneurship gaps.

### Categories of laws that often contain barriers to women’s economic empowerment
- Constitutional law (civil rights and citizenship)
- Property law
- Family law
- Labor law (employment and social security)
- Tax law

### Constitutional law and civil rights — key impediments and effects
- Barriers: restrictions on citizenship documentation, freedom of movement, and other civil liberties that constrain job searches and business activity.
- Specific metrics and findings:
  - The High-level Group on Justice for Women estimates about one billion people face challenges proving nationality and legal status.
  - In forty-five countries, women cannot apply for a passport or travel outside the country on the same terms as men.
  - One quarter of the world’s countries prohibit women from traveling by themselves in practice.
  - In 48 countries, the testimony of women does not carry the same evidentiary weight as men.
- Enforcement priorities: legal literacy and access to justice to enforce rights and deter discrimination.

### Family law — dynamics and economic consequences
- Family law regulates marriage, divorce, child custody and is heavily influenced by cultural norms; it often embeds unequal domestic power dynamics that limit women’s economic participation.
- Linked findings:
  - Early marriage and lower legal age to marry for women reduce girls’ education and labor prospects.
  - Legal limits on women being head of household are negatively correlated with female labor force participation.
  - Reforms enabling greater male participation in childcare can raise female labor force participation.

### Property law — ownership, inheritance, and access to finance
- Property law affects ownership, control, and transfer of assets critical for credit, business, and wealth accumulation.
- Impediments: prohibitions on owning movable/immovable property, discriminatory inheritance rules, and undervaluation of nonmonetary marital contributions.
- Consequences: reduced access to financial services, bank accounts, credit, savings, insurance, and business registration.

### Labor law — employment restrictions, pay gaps, and parental policies
- Global participation and gap metrics:
  - 55 percent of adult women are in the labor market compared to 78 percent of men.
  - Women face a 37 percent wage gap and a 51 percent income gap compared to men.
- Common legal impediments:
  - Around ninety economies have at least one restriction on professions women can pursue.
  - Fewer than half of countries have a law mandating equal pay for equal work.
  - Ninety-one percent of countries do not have laws prohibiting employers from inquiring about family status in hiring.
  - 60 percent of countries have no laws mandating non-discrimination in hiring.
- Parenthood and social protection:
  - Many countries lack paid maternity and paternity leave; employer-borne costs can reduce female employee retention.
  - Generous parental leave linked with smaller wage gaps in economies with a large formal sector.
  - Social security and pension laws often fail to account for periods of absence or part-time work due to childcare, lowering women’s pension outcomes.

### Tax law — explicit and implicit gender biases
- Explicit examples: assigning different tax rates by sex; tax preferences only for male or female taxpayers.
- Implicit examples: higher tariffs on women’s goods; family-based taxation (joint filing) that increases marginal tax rates for secondary earners (usually women); deductions for work expenses that favor male-dominated expenses.
- Policy implications:
  - Providing options for individual income taxation or structuring joint taxation to reduce effective rates on secondary earners can increase female labor force participation.
  - Tax procedural rules that prevent separate filing or require spouse consent can impede women’s economic empowerment.
- COVID-19 concerns: pandemic pressures increase risk that second earners leave the workforce, disproportionately affecting women and complicating tax-based remedies, especially in economies with large informal sectors.

### Policy directions and legal reforms emphasized
- Remove discriminatory provisions in constitutional, family, property, labor, and tax laws.
- Strengthen access to justice and legal literacy for women.
- Adopt laws and policies that:
  - Mandate equal pay for equal work and prohibit workplace discrimination and sexual harassment.
  - Remove restrictions on professions and freedom of movement.
  - Reform family law to support equal marriage, divorce, custody, and inheritance rights.
  - Ensure property and inheritance rights for women to facilitate access to finance and entrepreneurship.
  - Expand parental leave frameworks, including paid maternity and paternity leave, and support childcare provisions.
  - Reform social security and pension rules to recognize career interruptions and part-time work related to childcare.
  - Address tax-induced gender biases through individual taxation options, targeted tax reliefs, and gender-neutral deductions and tariffs.
- Mainstream gender budgeting and gender-responsive fiscal policy at national, regional and local levels to allocate resources that make it easier for women to enter and stay in the workforce (for example parental leave, lactation facilities, childcare allowances).
- Complement legal reform with measures to change cultural norms and incentivize labor market participation (for example, policies that encourage paternity leave).

### Box 1 — Gender Sensitive Tax Reforms (high-level)
- Incentives that increase women’s participation in the labor market:
  - Tax and subsidy incentives, child and dependent care policies, and tax allowances for childcare (examples cited: Canada, UK).
  - Targeted tax relief for single parents (example: the Netherlands).
  - Fundamental tax reform aimed at ensuring tax incentives for women to work (example: Austria).
- Alleviating tax burdens on basic (female) necessities:
  - South Africa reduced VAT on paraffin (kerosene).
  - Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania exempted sanitary products from VAT.
- COVID-19 related measures:
  - Gender sensitive tax measures targeted at sectors where women are overrepresented (examples cited: Cameroon, China, Tunisia, the U.S.).

### Box 2 — Iceland’s Equal Pay Standard (high-level)
- Legislative timeline:
  - Equal pay legislation since 1961; Gender Equality Act 1976; Equal Pay Standard voluntary in 2015; made mandatory in 2017 for companies with more than 25 employees (IST Standard 85).
- Coverage and scope:
  - Law covers 1,180 employers and 147,000 employees, or about 80% of the labor market.
- Employer requirements:
  - Evaluate each job, assess skills, maintain transparent systems for rewards, third-party auditor review, auditor report to Directorate of Equality, certificate issuance and equal pay symbol.
- Certification and enforcement:
  - Certification required every three years.
  - Non-compliance can trigger daily financial penalties and public shaming.
- Outcomes cited in case study:
  - 160 companies with 71,000 employees obtained certification (Prime Minister’s report on equality issues 2018-2019).
  - Gender pay gap declined from 16.3 percent in 2008 to 11.54 percent in 2021.
  - Women’s labor force participation increased from 71 percent in 2006 to 84.3 percent in 2021.

### Annex IV — IMF capacity development, gender budgeting, and legal reform engagement
- Legal basis: Article V, Section 2(b) authorizes IMF technical services and capacity development.
- IMF capacity development on gender budgeting in over 60 countries, including Albania, Austria, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Niger, and Ukraine.112
- Examples of gender budgeting statutory provisions across countries:
  - Recognition of gender equality as a budgetary principle: Albania, Rwanda, Uganda, Ukraine, Vietnam.
  - Budget formulation requirements incorporating gender perspective: Mexico, South Korea, Sweden, Tunisia.
  - Reporting and presentation requirements (gender notes, certification, budget attachments): Belgium, Iraq, Sweden, Uganda, Morocco, Rwanda, South Korea, Peru, Ecuador.
  - Budget execution protections for resources earmarked to gender programs: Mexico.
- Removal of legal barriers:
  - IMF contributions include advice on removing legal impediments to women’s economic empowerment across fiscal, tax, financial sector, central banking, insolvency, AML/CFT, governance and anti-corruption law areas.
  - Recommended approach: targeted focus on countries where reforms are macro-critical and coordination with World Bank, UN Women, OECD.
- IMF strategic direction:
  - IMF preparing a strategy to mainstream gender work at the Fund; proposed strategy expected to be submitted for consideration to the IMF’s Executive Board in Spring 2022.117

### Annex I — Key lessons from selected country case studies (high-level highlights)
- Constitutional law: enshrine gender equality; consider gender-neutral language; anti-discrimination laws (examples include Iceland; Peru; The Philippines; Spain; UK).
- Citizenship/Identification/Mobility: equal citizenship rights, access to identification/travel documents (example: Tunisian Code of Nationality, 1956).
- Political participation: representation quotas (examples: Rwanda Constitution 2003; Spain).
- Gender budgeting: require gender budgeting at multiple government levels (examples: Rwanda; Philippines; Iceland).
- Procedural rights: access to justice and legal aid (example: Namibia Married Persons Equality Act).
- Family law: increase age of marriage where unequal; equal marital rights and property valuation (examples: Namibia; Tunisia; US; UK).
- Property law: remove impediments to ownership and contracts; strengthen rural land rights (examples: UK Married Women’s Property Act 1870; Rwanda; Philippines).
- Wages/pay: guarantee equal pay for equal work; transparency; require assessment of gender pay gaps (examples: Iceland; US; Peru).
- Labor laws: rights to education parity; lactation rooms; strengthen domestic workers’ rights; enhance maternity and paternity benefits (examples: US Title IX; Rwanda Labor Code; France; Philippines Domestic Workers Act 2012; Namibia Labor Act 2007; Iceland Parental Leave Laws).

### Annex II — Iceland case study excerpt (selected highlights)
- Iceland topped the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index for the last twelve years.
- Historical milestones:
  - Women over age 40 gained right to vote in 1915.
  - Women’s Strike of 1975: estimated 90 percent participation; 25,000 women gathered in Reykjavik.
  - First female President elected in 1980.
  - As of the September 2021 election, women constituted 47.6 percent of members of parliament.
- Legal and policy developments:
  - 1976 Gender Equality Act; 1995 equal rights principle in Constitution; 2008 Gender Equality Act amendment noted as turning point.
  - Parental leave evolution culminating in one year leave at end-2019: five non-transferrable months for each parent, and two months shared between them.
  - Corporate board quotas and board gender outcomes: 2010 amendments led to 45.9 percent of board members of listed companies being women.
  - Equal pay measures and certification described above.

### Country case study highlights — Peru
- Legislative and institutional reforms:
  - Ratified CEDAW in 1982; Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations (MIMP) created in 1996.
  - Property law reforms in late 1990s increased joint property ownership and women’s household bargaining power.
  - Maternity leave of at least 90 days prior to and after birth (Law No. 26644 (1996), amended by Law No. 27402 (2001) and Law No. 30367 (2015)).
  - Law on Equal Pay and related Regulations (Law No. 30709 (2017); Supreme Decree No. DS Nº 002-2018-TR (2018)).
- Remaining gaps and outcomes:
  - 2021 Gender Gap Report rank: 62nd.
  - Women earn about 70.7% of what men earn (75.3% for women with higher education).
  - Female labor force participation rate: 74.1% compared to 88.1% for men.
  - Women perform an average of 39 hours per week of unpaid work compared to 16 hours for men; women generally work about 9 hours more than men per week in total.
  - Implementation, coordination, comprehensiveness, and budgetary support remain weak in some reforms.

### Country case study highlights — The Philippines
- Overview:
  - Historically among top 10 on gender gap until 2020; recently dropped to 17th due to decline in women in political positions.
  - Closed 78.4% of the gender gap relating to economic participation and opportunity.
  - Female labor force participation rate in 2019: 46%; male rate: 74%.
  - Two thirds of Philippine women employed in the informal (non-agricultural) sector.
  - Women spend an average of 4.5 to 6.5 hours a day on unpaid domestic and care work — three to six times longer than men.
- Legal instruments:
  - Magna Carta of Women (2008, Republic Act No. 9710).
  - Kasambahay Law (Republic Act No. 10361, 2012).
  - Expanded Maternity Leave Law (Republic Act No. 11210): extended maternity leave from 60 to 105 days.
  - Gender and Development (GAD) Budget Policy since 1995: requires all government agencies to utilize 5% of their budgets for activities that address the needs of women.
- Gaps:
  - Cultural/traditional gender roles; Code of Muslim Personal Laws (CMPL, 1977) applies to ~5.6% of population and contains restrictions.
  - Philippines along with Vatican lacks a generally applicable divorce law.
  - Enforcement and implementation constraints: dispersed complaint mechanisms and under-trained labor inspectorates.

### Country and regional statistics (selected figures)
- Global GDP potential gain: US$12 trillion by 2025.
- Growth gains from increased female labor participation: US by 5 percent; Japan by 9 percent; the UAE by 12 percent; Egypt by 34 percent.
- Iceland outcomes:
  - 1,180 employers and 147,000 employees covered by Equal Pay Standard (~80% of labor market).
  - Gender pay gap: 16.3 percent in 2008 to 11.54 percent in 2021.
  - Women’s labor force participation: 71 percent in 2006 to 84.3 percent in 2021.
- Labor statistics cited:
  - 55 percent of adult women in labor market vs 78 percent of men.
  - Women face a 37 percent wage gap and a 51 percent income gap compared to men.
- Tunisia:
  - Female labor force: "67.5 in 2021."
  - Percentage of females in labor force ages 15 to 64 increased from "23.9 percent in 1990 to 26.9 percent in 2019."
  - Political representation (2018): "47 per cent of the local council positions" and "29.6 per cent of positions on the head of party lists."
- Peru statistics:
  - Women earn about 70.7% of what men earn (75.3% for women with higher education).
  - Female labor force participation rate: 74.1% vs 88.1% for men.
  - Women perform average 39 hours/week of unpaid work vs 16 hours for men.

### IMF roles: surveillance, financial assistance, and capacity development
- Fund surveillance:
  - Bilateral surveillance under Article IV and Integrated Surveillance Decision can include gender-relevant policies when they significantly influence balance of payments or domestic stability.
  - Examples of Article IV advice: India (2015), Mali (2015), Germany (2015), Mauritius (2015), Rwanda (2017), Morocco (2017, 2019), Malaysia (2019), Japan (2019), Morocco (2019).
- Financial assistance:
  - IMF financing instruments: General Resources Account (GRA) and Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT).
  - Program design can include structural conditionality and structural benchmarks addressing gender-related reforms.
  - Gender-related conditionality examples:
    - Egypt (EGP 250 million for public nurseries, 2016 Extended Arrangement).
    - Niger (update national gender policy, 2016 Extended Arrangement).
    - Pakistan (2019 Extended Arrangement): launch financial inclusion strategy for women; update educational program benefits.
    - São Tomé and Príncipe (2019 Extended Arrangement): submit national strategy on women’s economic empowerment and financial inclusion.
  - Non-conditional commitments supported by the Fund:
    - Jordan (2016): commitments on subsidized nurseries, public transportation safety for women, regulation of home-based employment.
    - Argentina (2018 Stand-by Arrangement): increase public childcare; draft federal budget for 2019 includes a 12 percent expansion of public childcare.
- Capacity development:
  - Under Article V, Section 2(b), IMF provides technical assistance and training; CD includes gender budgeting support in over 60 countries (e.g., Albania, Austria, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Niger, Ukraine).

### Conclusions and operational implications
- Legal reform to remove barriers to women’s economic empowerment can promote women’s economic participation and generate macroeconomic benefits.
- Legal reform should be complemented by measures incentivizing women’s participation after formal impediments are removed (examples: parental leave for women and men; making gender pay gaps illegal; subsidizing childcare; avoiding penalties for secondary earners; facilitating women’s access to justice).
- Pace and nature of legal reform are country-specific; best-practice examples can serve as roadmaps.
- IMF assistance can leverage surveillance, lending, and capacity development, particularly where gender-related reforms are macro-critical.
- IMF scope: expand engagement to address legal barriers more systematically, focusing on countries where reforms are most macro-critical and coordinating with other international organizations.

*Source: wpiea2022037-print-pdf - 3. Gender Budgeting Laws*

### REFERENCES ___________________________________________________________68

### REFERENCES ___________________________________________________________68

### Boxes
- 1. Gender Sensitive Tax Reforms ______________________________________________15
- 2. Iceland’s Equal Pay Standard _______________________________________________20

*Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/wp/2022/english/wpiea2022037-print-pdf.pdf*

### 3. Gender Budgeting Laws ___________________________________________________28

### 3. Gender Budgeting Laws

### Introduction and macroeconomic relevance
- Empowering women to reach their full economic potential supports reducing gender inequality and has "tremendous significance on the advancement, competitiveness, and future-readiness of economies worldwide."
- Empirical associations identified:
  - Closing gender gaps linked with higher economic growth, lower inequality, increased productivity, better financial sector outcomes, and greater financial stability.
  - Global GDP could increase by US$12 trillion by 2025 through reducing gender gaps and promoting women’s economic empowerment.
  - Policy reforms to increase women’s participation in the labor force estimated to increase growth by: US by 5 percent, Japan by 9 percent, the UAE by 12 percent, and Egypt by 34 percent.
- COVID-19 risks widening gender gaps because:
  - Women are more likely to work in social sectors requiring face-to-face interactions.
  - Women are more likely to be employed in the informal sector, which is often not covered by labor laws.
  - Women do more unpaid household work and face increased care burdens from school closures.
  - Young girls are more likely to drop out of school to supplement household income lost due to COVID-19.

### Recent legal reform trends and persistent gaps
- Between 1960 and 2010, around 280 legal reforms were enacted to improve gender equality (IMF and World Bank data).
- Persisting legal impediments and measured gaps:
  - 20 economies have laws preventing women from working in specific jobs.
  - 49 economies do not have laws preventing sexual harassment in the workplace.
  - About 30 percent of economies have at least one constraint on women’s property rights.
  - Around one-fifth of economies restrict women’s agency and freedom of movement.
  - 19 economies allow men to prevent their wives from working.
  - 43 economies do not grant widows the same inheritance rights as widowers.
  - 16 economies accord lower evidentiary value to women’s testimony as opposed to men’s testimony.
- Discrimination outcomes:
  - The gender wage gap causes an average national income loss of 15 percent in OECD countries, 40 percent of which is a result of entrepreneurship gaps.

### Categories of laws that often contain barriers to women’s economic empowerment
- The paper highlights constitutional law (civil rights and citizenship), property law, family law, labor law (employment and social security) and tax law as areas with direct impact on economic participation.

### Constitutional law and civil rights — key impediments and effects
- Barriers include restrictions on citizenship documentation, freedom of movement, and other civil liberties that constrain job searches and business activity.
- Specific metrics and findings:
  - The High-level Group on Justice for Women estimates about one billion people face challenges proving nationality and legal status.
  - In forty-five countries, women cannot apply for a passport or travel outside the country on the same terms as men.
  - One quarter of the world’s countries prohibit women from traveling by themselves in practice.
  - In 48 countries, the testimony of women does not carry the same evidentiary weight as men.
- Legal literacy and access to justice are emphasized as crucial for enforcement and deterrence of discrimination.

### Family law — dynamics and economic consequences
- Family law regulates marriage, divorce, child custody and is heavily influenced by cultural norms; it often embeds unequal domestic power dynamics that limit women’s economic participation.
- Linked findings:
  - Early marriage and lower legal age to marry for women reduce girls’ education and labor prospects.
  - Legal limits on women being head of household are negatively correlated with female labor force participation.
  - Reforms enabling greater male participation in childcare can raise female labor force participation.

### Property law — ownership, inheritance, and access to finance
- Property law affects ownership, control, and transfer of assets critical for credit, business, and wealth accumulation.
- Impediments include prohibitions on owning movable/immovable property, discriminatory inheritance rules, and undervaluation of nonmonetary marital contributions.
- Consequences: reduced access to financial services, bank accounts, credit, savings, insurance, and business registration.

### Labor law — employment restrictions, pay gaps, and parental policies
- Global participation and gap metrics:
  - 55 percent of adult women are in the labor market compared to 78 percent of men.
  - Women face a 37 percent wage gap and a 51 percent income gap compared to men.
- Common legal impediments:
  - Around ninety economies have at least one restriction on professions women can pursue.
  - Fewer than half of countries have a law mandating equal pay for equal work.
  - Ninety-one percent of countries do not have laws prohibiting employers from inquiring about family status in hiring.
  - 60 percent of countries have no laws mandating non-discrimination in hiring.
- Parenthood and social protection:
  - Many countries lack paid maternity and paternity leave; where provided, employer-borne costs can reduce female employee retention.
  - Generous parental leave linked with smaller wage gaps in economies with a large formal sector.
  - Social security and pension laws often fail to account for periods of absence or part-time work due to childcare, lowering women’s pension outcomes.

### Tax law — explicit and implicit gender biases
- Tax provisions and procedures can contain explicit or implicit gender biases:
  - Explicit examples: assigning different tax rates by sex; tax preferences only for male or female taxpayers.
  - Implicit examples: higher tariffs on women’s goods; family-based taxation (joint filing) that increases marginal tax rates for secondary earners (usually women); deductions for work expenses that favor male-dominated expenses.
- Policy implications:
  - Providing options for individual income taxation or structuring joint taxation to reduce effective rates on secondary earners can increase female labor force participation.
  - Tax procedural rules that prevent separate filing or require spouse consent can impede women’s economic empowerment.
- COVID-19 concerns: pandemic pressures increase risk that second earners leave the workforce, disproportionately affecting women and complicating tax-based remedies, especially in economies with large informal sectors.

### Policy directions and legal reforms emphasized
- Remove discriminatory provisions in constitutional, family, property, labor, and tax laws to improve women’s economic empowerment.
- Strengthen access to justice and legal literacy for women to enforce rights and deter discrimination.
- Adopt laws and policies that:
  - Mandate equal pay for equal work and prohibit workplace discrimination and sexual harassment.
  - Remove restrictions on professions and freedom of movement.
  - Reform family law to support equal marriage, divorce, custody, and inheritance rights.
  - Ensure property and inheritance rights for women to facilitate access to finance and entrepreneurship.
  - Expand parental leave frameworks, including paid maternity and paternity leave, and support childcare provisions to reduce the care penalty on women.
  - Reform social security and pension rules to recognize career interruptions and part-time work related to childcare.
  - Address tax-induced gender biases through individual taxation options, targeted tax reliefs, and gender-neutral deductions and tariffs.
- Mainstream gender budgeting and gender-responsive fiscal policy at national, regional and local levels to allocate resources that make it easier for women to enter and stay in the workforce (for example parental leave, lactation facilities, childcare allowances).
- Recognize that legal reform is a necessary but not sufficient condition; complementary measures are needed to change cultural norms and incentivize labor market participation (for example, policies that encourage paternity leave to rebalance household responsibilities).

*Source: wpiea2022037-print-pdf - 3. Gender Budgeting Laws*

### Box 1. Gender Sensitive Tax Reforms

### Box 1. Gender Sensitive Tax Reforms

### Incentives that increase women’s participation in the labor market
- Many countries have introduced tax and subsidy incentives that increase women’s participation in the labor market, including child and dependent care policies, such as the introduction or the increase of tax allowances for childcare (Canada, UK).
- Some countries have implemented targeted tax relief for single parents (the Netherlands).
- In some cases, fundamental tax reform was undertaken, which aimed at ensuring that the tax system provides greater incentives for women to work (Austria).

### Alleviating tax burdens on basic (female) necessities
- South Africa has reduced the value-added tax on paraffin (e.g., kerosene), an important household fuel in poor households, which are predominantly headed by women.
- Several East African Community (EAC) countries (Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania) have exempted sanitary products from VAT to make them more affordable.

### COVID-19 related measures
- In an effort to tackle the inequality effect of the crisis, several countries have enacted gender sensitive tax measures aimed at providing tax benefits or incentives to sectors where women are overrepresented, such as healthcare, education and the service sector (Cameroon, China, Tunisia, the U.S.).

*Source: IMF (2017b); Stotsky (2016), and authors’ compilation.*

### Box 2. Iceland’s Equal Pay Standard

### Box 2. Iceland’s Equal Pay Standard

### Background and legislative history
- Iceland first enacted equal pay legislation in 1961 and reiterated the principle of equal wages for equal work in the Gender Equality Act of 1976.
- In 2008, the Icelandic Confederation of Labor and SA-Business Iceland collaboratively financed the development of the Equal Pay Standard with the Ministry of Welfare.
- The Equal Pay Standard was introduced on a voluntary basis in 2015.
- In 2017, Parliament made the Equal Pay Standard (IST Standard 85) mandatory for companies with more than 25 employees.

### Coverage and scope
- The law covers 1,180 employers and 147,000 employees, or about 80% of the labor market.
- Mandatory scope: companies with more than 25 employees (threshold specified in the law).

### Employer requirements and procedures
- Employers must evaluate each job and assess its main components, and the skills required to perform those tasks.
- Employers must have a transparent system of how additional skills or experiences might be rewarded.
- An employee may receive a higher salary for performing the same job as another employee, but the reasons for the difference in salary must be based on objective factors, not gender.
- The employer’s job classification system and wage policies are reviewed by a third-party auditor for consistency with the IST Standard 85.
- The auditor issues a report that the employer’s policies for setting wages do not involve gender-based discrimination, and submits it to the Directorate of Equality.
- The Directorate of Equality gives the employer a certificate and grants them the privilege of using a special equal pay symbol in their corporate and marketing materials.

### Certification, enforcement, and timing
- Employers have to obtain the equal pay certification every three years.
- If employers don’t get certified by the deadline (which varies by company size) they can face daily financial penalties as well as public shaming.

*Source: Box 2. Iceland’s Equal Pay Standard*

### Annex  IV  to  this

### Annex IV to this paper

### Capacity development
- Article V, Section 2(b) of the Articles of Agreement authorizes the IMF to provide technical services, upon request, consistent with the Fund’s purposes; the Fund engages in capacity development (technical assistance and training) to strengthen institutional capacity to design and implement macroeconomic, financial, and structural policies.
- The IMF has provided capacity development aimed at improving gender outcomes, with a very important focus on gender budgeting.
- The IMF has provided technical advice on gender budgeting in over 60 countries, including Albania, Austria, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Niger, and Ukraine.112

### Gender budgeting laws (Box 3)
- Several countries have included gender budgeting in budgetary and PFM legal frameworks; scope varies widely.
- Examples of statutory provisions and requirements:
  - Recognition of gender equality as a principle of the budgetary system: Albania, Rwanda, Uganda, Ukraine, Vietnam.
  - Budget formulation requirements to incorporate a gender-based perspective across programs/projects: Mexico, South Korea, Sweden, Tunisia.
  - Requirements that public entities identify and report on gender-equality gaps for budget preparation: Ecuador.
  - Requirement that institutional budget proposals include a report on likely impact on gender equality: South Korea.
  - Presentation requirements for the annual budget law:
    - Draft budget bill to detail impact on attainment of gender equality targets: Sweden.
    - Attachment of a “gender note” to the draft budget: Belgium, Iraq.
    - Special certification that the proposed budget is gender and equity responsive before submission to Parliament: Uganda.
  - Budget execution protections: resources allocated/earmarked for programs addressing gender inequality cannot be removed or diminished: Mexico.
  - Performance-based budgeting with gender objectives and indicators: Austria, Morocco.
  - Accountability and transparency:
    - Individual audit report requirement on implementation of gender programs: Rwanda.
    - Evaluation of budget execution to incorporate gender equality analysis (“gender sensitive settlement of accounts”): South Korea, Peru.
    - Requirement to present a results-based gender report as part of the following year’s annual budget to Parliament: Morocco.

### Removal of legal barriers to women’s economic empowerment and IMF engagement
- The IMF has contributed to addressing gender issues in areas including removal of legal barriers to women’s economic empowerment.113
- Empirical data and case studies show that carefully designed reforms removing legal impediments can positively affect:
  - Women’s labor force participation,
  - Wage equality,
  - Economic output.114
- IMF staff have long provided advice on legal and institutional reforms across areas relevant to the Fund’s mandate (fiscal, tax, financial sector, central banking and exchange rate law, corporate and household insolvency, AML/CFT, governance and anti-corruption); advice on removal of legal barriers to women’s economic empowerment would build on these efforts.
- Recommended approach:
  - Targeted focus on countries where empirical evidence shows reforms are macro-critical.
  - Close partnership and coordination with other international organizations (World Bank, UN Women, OECD).

### Conclusions
- Legal reform to remove barriers to women’s economic empowerment can be a powerful instrument to promote women’s economic participation and help countries achieve higher growth and other macroeconomic benefits.115
- Legal reforms should also incentivize women’s overall economic participation after formal legal impediments are removed.
- Examples of legal measures span repealing discriminatory laws; parental leave for women and men; making gender pay gaps illegal; regulating facilities/infrastructure (including subsidizing childcare); avoiding penalties for secondary earners; incentives for training/hiring women in male-dominated fields; reforms to facilitate women’s access to justice.
- Pace and nature of legal reform are country-specific; reforms may follow strong women’s movements or key historical events, or proceed gradually and piecemeal. Barriers nonetheless remain.
- Best-practice examples (from case studies) can serve as a roadmap; some are collected in Annex I.
- IMF can assist members through its core functions—surveillance, financial assistance, and capacity development—particularly when gender-related reforms are macro-critical because they can significantly influence balance of payments and domestic stability.
- There is scope to expand IMF engagement to address legal barriers to women’s economic empowerment more systematically, focusing on countries where reforms are most macro-critical and collaborating closely with other international organizations.
- The IMF is preparing a strategy to mainstream gender work at the Fund116 in accordance with its mandate; the proposed strategy aims to integrate gender into the Fund’s surveillance, lending, and capacity development and is expected to be submitted for consideration to the IMF’s Executive Board in Spring 2022.117

### Annex I — Key lessons from selected country case studies (high-level highlights)
- Constitutional law
  - Enshrine gender equality/equality of opportunity for women in the Constitution or other laws; consider gender-neutral language; enact anti-discrimination laws.
  - Example laws cited: Iceland, Act on Equal Status and Equal Rights Irrespective of Gender, 2021; Peru, Law of Equal Opportunities, 2007; The Philippines, Magna Carta of Women 2008; Spain, Law of Effective Equality 2007; UK, Equality Act 2010.
- Citizenship/Identification/Mobility
  - Equal citizenship rights; access to identification and travel documents; right to pass on citizenship; remove impediments to travel alone.
  - Example laws cited: Tunisian Code of Nationality, 1956; Family law, 1990.
- Political participation and representation
  - Guarantee voting and candidacy rights; carve out representation quotas.
  - Examples: Rwanda Constitution 2003; Spain, Law of Effective Equality 2007; Iceland laws.
- Gender budgeting
  - Require gender budgeting at national, state, local levels.
  - Examples: Rwanda, Organic Law on State Finances and Property Law 2013; Philippines, Gender and Development Budget Policy; Iceland, Public Finance Act 2015.
- Procedural rights
  - Rights to access justice, legal aid, fair trial.
  - Example: Namibia, Married Persons Equality Act.
- Family law (marriage, household, divorce, custody)
  - Increase age of marriage where unequal; equal marital rights; property valuation; custody rights; mandate child support and enforcement.
  - Examples: Namibia, Married Persons Equality Act 1996; Tunisia, Code of Personal Status 1956; US Economic Equity Act; UK, Infant Custody Act 1873.
- Property law (ownership, inheritance, contracts)
  - Remove legal impediments to women’s ownership/management of property and assets; allow contracts; strengthen rural land rights.
  - Examples: UK, Married Women’s Property Act 1870; Rwanda laws on land rights; The Philippines Civil Code.
- Wages/pay
  - Guarantee equal pay for equal work; transparency; require assessment of gender pay gaps.
  - Examples: Iceland, Equal Pay Act 1961 and Equal Pay Standards 2018; US Equal Pay Act of 1963; Peru, Law on Equal Pay, 2017.
- Labor laws (education, working conditions, maternity/paternity, anti-discrimination)
  - Ensure girls’ right to education and parity; remove impediments to women doing traditionally male jobs; appropriate working conditions (lactation rooms); strengthen rights of domestic workers; enhance maternity and paternity rights and benefits; job protection after maternity leave; prevent gender-based discrimination and harassment.
  - Examples: US Title IX (1972); Rwanda Labor Code; France, Code du Travail; The Philippines, Domestic Workers Act 2012; Namibia, Labor Act 2007; Iceland, Parental Leave Laws; US Title VII, Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978; The Philippines, Anti-Sexual Harassment Law 2019.

### Annex II — Case study excerpt: Iceland
- Gender equality long prioritized by Icelandic government; recognized as “prudent economic policy.”120
- Iceland topped the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index for the last twelve years.
- Historical milestones and statistics:
  - Women over age 40 gained the right to vote in parliamentary elections in 1915.
  - Women’s Strike of 1975: estimated 90 percent of the women in Iceland participated by not going to work and doing no housework; 25,000 women gathered for a mass demonstration in Reykjavik.
  - In 1980 the country elected the first female President, Vigdis Finnbogadottir, who served four terms.
  - As of the September 2021 election, women constituted 47.6 percent of members of parliament, the highest percentage of women lawmakers in Europe.121
- Legal framework evolution:
  - 1976: first Gender Equality Act outlawed gender discrimination in schools and the workplace.
  - 1995: principle of equal rights of men and women formally enshrined in the Constitution.
  - The Gender Equality Act amendment in 2008 marked a turning point in producing concrete results.

*Annex IV to this paper (selected excerpts).*

### Annex III includes the case studies of France, Spain and the UK as discussed in Section II(B) of the main paper

### wpiea2022037-print-pdf - Annex III includes the case studies of France, Spain and the UK as discussed in Section II(B) of the main paper

### Iceland — Legal and policy reforms advancing gender equality
- Key legislative changes and targets:
  - Introduced a minimum quota of 40 percent female participation in local and national government committees, councils and boards.
  - Banned derogatory images of women in advertising and implemented gender mainstreaming across government programs and policies.
  - Article 15, Act on the Equal Status and Equal Rights for Women and Men, No. 10/2008.
- Corporate governance and boards:
  - 2010 amendments to the Acts on Public Limited Companies and Private Limited Companies established gender quotas for company boards: companies with more than 50 employees and more than three board members could not have the percentage of women be less than 40.
  - As a result of reforms, 45.9 percent of board members of listed companies are women.
- Exploitation, violence, and related reforms:
  - In 2009, soliciting, pimping, advertising or otherwise benefiting from prostitution was made illegal.
  - In 2010, parliament approved a ban on strip clubs.
  - In 2011, a strengthened law against domestic violence permitted local authorities to remove a perpetrator from his household and impose restraining orders.
  - Act No. 85/2007; Act No. 85/2011; Directorate of Equality (2019).
- Parental leave framework:
  - Maternity leave of three months has existed since 1980; fathers granted two weeks of paternity leave in 1998.
  - In 2000, leave was extended to nine months, with working parents paid 80 percent of their average salaries. The leave was divided: each parent allocated three months non-transferable; three additional months to share.
  - At end-2019, parental leave was extended to one year: five non-transferrable months for each parent, and two months shared between them.
- Equal pay and the Equal Pay Standard:
  - Equal Pay Act present since 1961; persistence of wage gap led to development of the Equal Pay Standard, available voluntarily in 2015.
  - 2016–2017: Equal Pay Standard made mandatory with phased implementation by business size; should be complete for all businesses with more than 25 employees by the end of 2021.
  - Shifted burden of proof from employee to employer; employers must have transparent job classification and valuation systems; certification body audits wage management before issuing certificate of compliance.
  - According to the Prime Minister’s report on equality issues from 2018-2019, a total of 160 companies with 71,000 employees have obtained the certification.
  - Gender pay gap declined from 16.3 percent in 2008 to 11.54 percent in 2021.
  - Women’s labor force participation increased from 71 percent in 2006 to 84.3 percent in 2021.
- Institutional framework and leadership:
  - Since 2009, ministerial committee on gender equality led by the Prime Minister responsible for government action plan, gender mainstreaming, and gender-sensitive review of bills.
  - Department of Equality positioned in the Prime Minister’s Office.
  - Independent institutions: Directorate of Equality (national bureau administering the Act), Gender Equality Complaints Committee, Gender Equality Council.
  - Notable national female political leadership includes Johanna Sigurdardottir (Prime Minister 2009-2012) and Katrin Jakobsdottir (current Prime Minister).

### Peru — Legal framework, institutional measures, and persistent challenges
- International commitments and institutional structures:
  - Ratified CEDAW in 1982; joined Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in 1995.
  - 1996: Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations (MIMP) created.
  - Since 2015, MIMP has a Directorate for the Promotion and Development of the Economic Autonomy of Women to formulate, implement, monitor, and evaluate norms, policies, strategies and programs related to economic autonomy of women.
  - Ratified multiple ILO conventions including Equal Remuneration Convention (No. 100), Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention (No. 111), Workers with Families Convention (No. 156), Maternity Protection Convention (No. 183), and Domestic Workers Convention (No. 189) in 2019.
- Constitutional and electoral measures:
  - 1993 Constitution provides non-discrimination based on sex and equality under law (art. 2 para. 2) and equality of opportunity regarding labor (art. 26); customary law invalidated if conflicting with fundamental rights (art. 149).
  - Gender quota introduced for congressional candidate lists in 1997; more recently parity and gender alternation on candidate lists for general elections.
- Labor, property, and family law reforms:
  - Property law reforms in late 1990s facilitated formalization of land titles and women’s right to inherit, increasing joint property ownership and women’s household bargaining power.
  - Maternity and related protections:
    - Maternity leave of at least 90 days prior to and after birth (Law No. 26644 (1996), amended by Law No. 27402 (2001) and Law No. 30367 (2015)).
    - Maternity allowance (Law No. 26790 (1997); Supreme Decree No. 009-97-SA (1997)).
    - Prohibition of termination solely based on pregnancy (Supreme Decree No. 003-97-TR (1997); today, Law No. 30367 (2015)).
    - Prohibition of discrimination in hiring (Law No. 26772 (1997); Supreme Decree No. 002-98-TR (1998)).
    - Breastfeeding and lactation rooms (Law No. 27591 (2001)).
    - Temporary reassignment for health reasons during pregnancy (Law No. 28048 (2003)).
    - Right to return to same workplace after maternity leave (Supreme Decree No. 009-2004-TR (2004)).
  - Domestic workers law establishes minimum standards for sectors traditionally dominated by women (Law No. 27986 (2003); Supreme Decree No. 004-2009-TR (2009)).
  - Laws addressing sexual harassment adopted in early 2000s and later (Law No. 27942 (2003), as amended by Law No. 29430 (2009); Supreme Decree No. 010-2003-MIMDES (2003)).
- National equality frameworks and recent reforms:
  - Law of Equal Opportunities between Women and Men (Law No. 28983 (2007)) established framework obliging state to implement and monitor policies, programs, and actions.
  - National Plan of Gender Equality 2012-2017 (Supreme Decree No. 004-2012-MIMP (2012)).
  - Childcare services and nursing rooms mandated in public administration (Supreme Decree No. 002-2007-MIMDES (2007); Law No. 29896 (2012)).
  - Paid paternity leave introduced (Law No. 29409 (2010), as amended by Law No. 30807 (2018)).
  - Right to identification and free birth certificates increased female registrations, especially in rural areas (Law No. 29462 (2009)).
  - 2011 law required the executive branch to account for unpaid work in national accounting (Law No. 29700 (2011)), but no progress on measurements to quantify unpaid work.
  - Law on Equal Pay and related Regulations passed in 2017–2018: requires SUNAFIL to carry out periodic inspections where employers must maintain a job description record justifying salary differences (Law No. 30709 (2017); Supreme Decree No. DS Nº 002-2018-TR (2018)).
  - Law for prevention and sanction of sexual harassment in public spaces and elevation of certain acts to criminal offenses (Law No. 30314 (2015); Legislative Decree No. 1410 (2019)).
  - National Policy on Gender Equality (Supreme Decree No. 008-2019-MIMP (2019)); Multisectoral Strategic Plan for Gender Equality (Supreme Decree No. 002-2020-MIMP of March 4, 2020).
  - 2021 Public Sector Budget Law allocated resources to finance justice linked to reduction of violence against women and financing rural and indigenous women's entrepreneurship (Law No. 31365 of November 29, 2021).
- Implementation gaps and persistent inequalities:
  - Implementation often lacks coordination, comprehensiveness, information and budget streamlining.
  - Gender budgeting requirement introduced in 2007 (Law No. 29083 (2007) introducing Article 47(4) into Law No. 28411 (2004)) was later amended to remove the requirement to conduct a gender analysis (Legislative Decree No. 1440 (2018)).
  - Family law impediments:
    - Mandatory waiting period after death of or divorce from the husband limits women’s ability to remarry (Article 243 (3) Peruvian Civil Code).
    - Family laws do not account for unpaid work in property division after divorce, do not provide compensation for contributions to joint life projects, and do not grant alimony in cohabiting unions other than marriage (Property regime Articles 295 to 331 Peruvian Civil Code).
  - Sociocultural patterns and structural causes of inequality recognized in national plan but no measures adopted to tackle them.
- Remaining outcome disparities and statistics:
  - In the 2021 Gender Gap Report, Peru ranks 62nd.
  - Women earn about 70.7% of what men earn (75.3% for women with higher education).
  - Female labor force participation rate: 74.1% compared to 88.1% for men.
  - About 30% of legislators, seniors and managers in companies are women; 7% of CEOs are women.
  - Women perform an average of 39 hours per week of unpaid work compared to 16 hours for men; women generally work about 9 hours more than men per week in total when including paid work.
  - Challenges noted: higher wage gap relative to Latin America average despite legal mandates for equal remuneration; women concentrated in lower-paid labor market segments.
- Identified enforcement and monitoring mechanisms:
  - SUNAFIL strengthened to ensure anti-discriminatory principles in remuneration via inspections.
  - Constitutional Court jurisprudence and laws have measurable impacts on legal norms, but coordination, comprehensiveness and budgetary support remain weak.

*Italic: Source — wpiea2022037-print-pdf - Annex III includes the case studies of France, Spain and the UK as discussed in Section II(B) of the main paper*

### 3. The Philippines

### 3. The Philippines

### Overview and gender gap ranking
- Historically among the top 10 countries with the narrowest gender gap globally until the 2020 Global Gender Gap report of the World Economic Forum; recently dropped to the 17th rank due to a decline in women in political positions (congress and cabinet).
- High level of female labor force participation and economic opportunity despite cultural gender bias.

### Economic participation and labor market
- Closed 78.4% of the gender gap relating to economic participation and opportunity.
- Women outnumber men in senior and leadership roles and in professional and technical professions.
- Largest proportion of firms with female participation in ownership in the ASEAN countries; ranks fifteenth globally for closing the wage gap.
- Female labor force participation rate in 2019: 46%.
- Male labor force participation rate in 2019: 74%.
- Two thirds of Philippine women are employed in the informal (non-agricultural) sector.
  - Informal employment implications: limited access to social protection, lower earnings, lower productivity, poorer conditions.
- Women spend an average of 4.5 to 6.5 hours a day on unpaid domestic and care work — three to six times longer than men.

### Legal and institutional reforms supporting gender equality
- 1987 Constitution: stipulates equality of women and men and protection of working women.
- Gender and Development (GAD) Budget Policy since 1995: requires all government agencies to utilize 5% of their budgets for activities that address the needs of women.
- Ratified CEDAW; adopted the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA); adopted ILO standards related to fundamental principles and rights at work.
- Legal rights and protections (as stated):
  - Right to own land, to enter into contracts and to access credit, loans, and resources.
  - Women can own property jointly with spouses and do not need husbands’ consent to work.
  - Equal remuneration for both sexes is mandatory.
  - Discrimination of female workers when hiring, promoting or terminating is prohibited.
  - Same rights to inheritance as men.
  - Equal standing to file legal proceedings and equal weight of testimony.

### Key laws, legislative milestones, and policy instruments
- Magna Carta of Women (2008, Republic Act No. 9710): comprehensive action plan setting state obligations to promote and protect women’s rights and equality.
- 2011: Lifted ban on night work for women.
- 2012: Kasambahay Law or Domestic Workers Act (Republic Act No. 10361) enacted to protect domestic workers (reflecting ILO Domestic Workers Convention No. 189).
- Paternity and Maternity leave legislation: Paternity Leave Act (Republic Act No. 8187, 1996), Maternity Leave Act (Republic Act No. 8282, 1997).
  - Expanded Maternity Leave Law (Republic Act No. 11210): extended maternity leave from 60 to 105 days.
- Barangay Day Care Center Law (Republic Act No. 6972): government required to provide universal childcare down to the level of all municipalities.
- 2019: Anti-Sexual Harassment Law amended (Bawal Bastos / Republic Act No. 11313) to strengthen enforcement and protection.
- Other related laws listed in source: Solo Parent Leave Act (RA 8972); Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act (RA 10354); Leave for Victims of Violence against Women and their Children; Special Leave for Women (RA 9710); Breastfeeding Promotion Act (RA 10028) including Lactation Station/Lactation Break.

### Gaps, discriminatory provisions, and implementation challenges
- Cultural and traditional gender roles: reproductive responsibilities impede women's labor force entry.
- Male-dominated industries negatively affect women’s work environment and advancement; increase exposure to sexual harassment.
- Family law discriminatory element: husband’s decision prevails in court if dispute over joint marital property (Articles 96 and 124 Family Code, Executive Order No. 209 (1987)).
- Code of Muslim Personal Laws (CMPL, 1977) applicable to Muslim population (~5.6% of total population):
  - Restricts women via lower age of marriage, and restrictions on rights to work, own assets, or inherit property.
  - CMPL Article 3.1: in case of conflict, CMPL provisions prevail.
- Philippines (along with Vatican) is only country without a generally applicable divorce law; Philippine Commission on Women prioritizes introduction of a divorce law.
- A law penalizing child marriage is underway.
- Enforcement and implementation constraints:
  - Complaint mechanisms dispersed and difficult to navigate.
  - Labor inspectorates require more adequate training on interpretation of regulations and on official support.
  - Political, cultural and social constraints continue to limit further legal reform and policy adoption.

### Social movements and civil society role
- Significant progress driven by women NGOs and strong alliances among them.
- International cooperation and financial support helped NGOs provide systematic and comprehensive data and analyses to inform policy and legal reforms.

*Source: wpiea2022037-print-pdf - 3. The Philippines*

### 67.5 in 2021. The percentage of females in the labor force ages 15 to 64 has increased from 23.9

### wpiea2022037-print-pdf - 67.5 in 2021. The percentage of females in the labor force ages 15 to 64 has increased from 23.9

### Key gender statistics and Tunisia
- Female labor force: "67.5 in 2021."
- Percentage of females in the labor force ages 15 to 64 increased from "23.9 percent in 1990 to 26.9 percent in 2019."
- Political representation in Tunisia (2018):
  - "47 per cent of the local council positions"
  - "29.6 per cent of positions on the head of party lists."

### United States: historical legal context and major reforms
- Historical constraints:
  - Colonial-era legal doctrine: women not legally separate from husband; prohibited from job, voting, or owning property.
  - "U.S. Declaration of Independence signed in 1776" language: "all men are created equal."
  - By 1777, all states had laws prohibiting women from voting.
  - "In 1866, the 14th Amendment confirmed that women should not be allowed to vote."
  - Key early U.S. Supreme Court holdings:
    - Bradwell v. Illinois, 83 U.S. 130 (1872): states had right to exclude married women from practicing law.
    - Minor v. Happersett, 88 U.S. 162 (1875): women as a special category of non-voting citizens.
  - "It was not until 1900 that every state had a law granting married women control over their property or earnings."
  - Women gained the vote in "1920 when the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified."

- Major federal legislative and regulatory milestones:
  - "Equal Pay Act of 1963" — equal pay for equal work regardless of gender.
  - "Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964" — prohibited sex discrimination in employment and housing-related transactions.
  - "Equal Employment Opportunity Commission" established in 1965 to enforce Title VII.
  - "Executive Order 11246 in 1965" — prohibited sex discrimination by federal government contractors and required affirmative action plans; federal contractors are "about twenty percent of the United States workforce."
  - "Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972" — prohibits gender discrimination in any educational program or activity receiving federal financial assistance; enabled broader access to tertiary education for women and protections including against sexual harassment.
  - U.S. Supreme Court rulings expanding sex discrimination protections:
    - Phillips v. Martin Marietta Corporation, 400 U.S. 542 (1971): illegal for private employers to refuse to hire women with young children while hiring men with young children.
    - Reed v. Reed, 404 U.S. 71 (1971): struck down law preferring males as administrators of wills; extended Equal Protection Clause to prohibit sex discrimination without rational basis.
    - Cleveland Board of Education v. LaFleur, 414 U.S. 632 (1974): illegal to force pregnant women to take maternity leave based on assumed incapacity.
    - Kirchberg v. Feenstra, 450 U.S. 455 (1981): husband could not unilaterally control marital property.
  - "Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978" (amendment to Title VII) — prohibits discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions.
  - "Economic Equity Act" (introduced 1981–1996) — omnibus reforms affecting pension, tax, insurance, inheritance, dependent care, education, healthcare, banking, and employment; measures included a dependent care tax credit, elimination of interspousal gift and estate taxes, child support enforcement, prohibition of discrimination in insurance, and elimination of gender-based distinctions in military service provisions.
  - "Family Medical Act in 1993" (Pub.L. 103–3 (1993)) — allows employees to take up to "12 weeks of unpaid leave each year" for specified family and medical reasons; applies to all public agencies, public and private elementary and secondary schools, and companies with "50 or more employees."
  - "Gender Equity in Education Act, 1994" — training in gender equity to promote math and science to girls, counsel pregnant teens and prevent sexual harassment.
  - "Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, 2009" — addressed statute of limitations issues to better allow filing of pay discrimination charges.
  - "National Defense Authorization Act in December 2019" — includes paid parental leave for federal employees: "up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave" following birth, adoption or fostering; "will become effective in October 2020."

- Labor-force participation trends:
  - "In 1950 women only made up 30% of the U.S. workforce and this increased to 47% by 2017."

- Observations:
  - Federal and state laws, court rulings, and federal rules collectively prohibited gender-based workforce discrimination and contributed to cultural shifts increasing women's participation and retention in the U.S. workforce.

### Spain: colonial legacy, legal reforms, and labor outcomes
- Historical background:
  - Spanish colonial rule from "1492 to 1968."
  - Castilian legal system centered around patriarchy; married women and property subject to husband’s authority; widows and adult single women had greater legal independence; women had property rights over dowry, income and personal goods, and right to inherit.

- Post-Franco reforms and institutional developments:
  - "Death of the dictator Francisco Franco in 1975" and entry into the European Community in "1986" enabled legal reforms.
  - New Constitution adopted in "1978" with provisions prohibiting gender discrimination (Articles 14, 35 and 9.2).
  - "Spanish Institute for Women’s Affairs" created in 1983, with equivalent institutions in autonomous regions.
  - Laws enacted:
    - Organic Law 1/2004 — protection measures against sexual violence.
    - Law 39/2006 — promotion of personal autonomy and attention for persons in situations of dependency.
    - "Law on Effective Equality of 2007" (Organic Law 3/2007) — prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex; introduced affirmative action and a quota requiring "40% female representation in political candidate lists, decision-making bodies and company boards."
    - Royal Legislative Decree 1/2010, Article 540.4.c — listed companies must address board balance in annual reports.
    - Royal Decree-Law 6/2019 — all companies with more than 50 workers must carry out equality plans.

- Employment and social protections:
  - Workers’ Statute reforms since 2015 provide for equal pay.
  - Dismissal or non-renewal of a fixed-term contract without cause due to pregnancy or pregnancy-related leave is considered null and void, including during probationary period.
  - Maternity leave is "16 weeks" with employment rights guaranteed during this period.
  - Paternity leave was extended to "twelve weeks" in 2019.
  - Additional parental leave provisions are individually distributed among both parents and non-transferable.
  - European Court of Justice ruling transformed “breastfeeding leave” into “leave for the care of the infant who is breastfed” so it can be taken by either parent.
  - General Law of Social Security: "maternity supplement" increases a mother's final pension by "5%" if she has two children, "10% for three children, and 15% for four or more."

- Outcomes and challenges:
  - Spain ranks ninth in the EU’s Gender Equality Index.
  - Spain ranks fourteenth in the "2021 Global Gender Gap Index of the World Economic Forum."
  - Spain achieved the second highest score in the World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law Report.
  - Female labor force participation rate: "61%" compared to "73%" for men.
  - Economic crises and austerity since 2008 negatively impacted gender equality; the Covid-19 pandemic may have regressive effects.
  - Sectoral concentration: women overrepresented in retail, tourism, and service industries that were hardest hit by lockdowns and social distancing.
  - Unpaid work: women spend "an average of two hours per day more than men in unpaid household work."

*Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/wp/2022/english/wpiea2022037-print-pdf.pdf*

### 2. United Kingdom

### 2. United Kingdom

### Historical context
- Through much of the 19th century, women in the U.K. held an inferior position to men in society and had limited legal rights: could not vote in elections, education for women was not considered necessary, and they had limited rights within the household, having to relinquish all property rights to their husbands upon marriage and limited custody rights over their children.
- The woman’s suffrage movement and social changes during the First World War—when women took on traditionally male jobs—were pivotal in prompting legal reforms in the late 19th century/early 20th century to remove legal impediments and strengthen women’s rights.

### Civil rights and political participation
- Representation of the People’s Act, 1918:
  - Abolished property qualifications for men returning from the war.
  - Permitted women over 30 who met minimum property qualifications to vote.
- Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act, 1918:
  - Stated that women would not be disqualified by sex or marriage from sitting or voting as members of the House of Commons.
- Representation of the People’s (Equal Franchise) Act, 1928:
  - Extended voting rights to women over the age of 21.
  - The 1929 elections were the first time in the UK’s history where women were allowed to vote in full.

### Protection against gender-based discrimination
- Sex Discrimination (Removal) Act, 1919:
  - Gave women access to certain professions, such as legal practice and accounting.
- Sex Discrimination Act, 1975:
  - Made it illegal to discriminate against women in work, education and training.
- Equal Pay Act, 1970 and Equal Pay (Amendment) Act, 1983:
  - Provided for equal treatment between men and women with regard to terms and conditions of employment; 1983 amendment allowed women to be paid the same as men for work of equal value.
- 2010 Equality Act:
  - Repealed and combined previous equality and anti-discrimination legislation into a single legislation.
- Government Equalities Office:
  - Responsible for policies related to women and for implementing the 2010 Equality Act.

### Property rights
- Coverture (pre-1870):
  - Married women were required to relinquish all their property and earnings to their husbands under the principle of couverture.
- Married Women’s Property Act, 1870:
  - Allowed married women to hold their earnings independent of their husbands, inherit small sums and hold property inherited from close family.
- Married Women’s Property Act, 1882:
  - Extended the 1870 law to give married women complete independence and control over their own possessions and earnings.
- Law of Property Act, 1922:
  - Permitted men and women to inherit property equally.
- Law of Property (Amendment) Act, 1926:
  - Permitted women to hold and dispose of this property on the same terms as men.

### Family law
- Custody of Infants Act, 1839:
  - Permitted a mother to petition for custody of her children up to the age of seven.
- Infant Custody Act, 1873:
  - Determined that custody should be based on the needs of the child (rather than parent rights) and allowed women to petition for custody of their children below the age of 16.

### Employment laws and parental leave
- Statutory Maternity Pay Regulations, 1986:
  - Introduced statutory maternity leave (maternity pay period) of about 18 weeks at the time.
- European Union Directives (relevant measures introduced while the UK was an EU member):
  - Rights such as paid time off for prenatal appointments.
  - Requirements on employers to protect pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers from harm in the workplace.
  - Guaranteed women a minimum period of maternity leave, a right to return to the same job, and protection from dismissal or any other unfavorable treatment because of pregnancy or maternity.
- Shared parental leave, 2015:
  - Came into force allowing fathers to take paid leave following the birth or adoption of a child and allowing more mothers the choice to return to work sooner.
- Note on application:
  - The application of some of these laws may be subject to change following the UK’s move out of the EU.

### Current assessments and outstanding challenges
- World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index 2021:
  - The UK is ranked 23rd out of 156 countries.
  - The UK is ranked 55th on the index in terms of Women’s Economic Participation and Opportunity, as a result of ongoing issues related to wage inequality.

*Source: Chapter 2, “United Kingdom,” wpiea2022037-print-pdf.*

### 1.      Fund surveillance

### 1.      Fund surveillance

### Bilateral Surveillance
- Legal basis: Article IV of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement requires bilateral surveillance assessing members’ compliance with Article IV, Section 1, including the obligation that each member “endeavor to direct its economic and financial policies toward the objective of fostering orderly economic growth with reasonable price stability.”
- Scope: Bilateral surveillance is conducted mainly through Article IV Consultations, normally on an annual basis, and covers assessment of exchange rate policies, monetary, fiscal, and financial sector policies. It can include policies related to gender outcomes/women’s economic empowerment when they significantly influence present or prospective balance of payments or domestic stability, including policies supportive of inclusive growth.
- Policy basis for gender advice: The IMF’s authority to advise on gender issues also stems from the 2012 Integrated Surveillance Decision (ISD). The ISD recognizes systemic stability is most effectively achieved by members adopting policies that promote balance of payments stability and domestic stability.
- Examples of IMF advice on gender and women’s economic empowerment in Article IV consultations:
  - 2015 Article IV Consultation for India: recommended investing in transport to ease the transition from informal to formal employment of women.
  - 2015 Article IV Consultation for Mali: emphasized the economic benefits of investing in girls’ education.
  - 2015 Article IV Consultation for Germany: highlighted the need for high quality and affordable childcare and called for tax reforms to avoid penalizing secondary earners (usually women).
  - 2015 Article IV Consultation for Mauritius: examined ways of expanding women’s access to finance.
  - 2017 Article IV Consultation for Rwanda: recommended increasing access to quality health and education services to help improve female labor force participation.
  - 2017 Article IV Consultation for Morocco: emphasized the potential for gender budgeting.
  - 2019 Article IV Consultation for Malaysia: recommended prioritizing female labor force participation and productivity by improving education, accelerating the innovation and technology adoption, and encouraging a move up the value chain.
  - 2019 Article IV Consultation for Japan: noted that social security and tax reforms should reform disincentives to full-time and regular work to help address gender inequality.
  - 2019 Article IV Consultation for Morocco: emphasized the need for further efforts to improve female education and increase access to affordable childcare.

### Multilateral Surveillance
- Legal basis and objective: Pursuant to Article IV, Section 3(a), the IMF oversees the international monetary system to ensure its effective operation; the system’s essential purpose is to facilitate exchange of goods, services and capital among countries and sustain sound economic growth.
- Focus areas: (a) global economic and financial developments and the outlook for the global economy, including risks to global economic and financial stability; and (b) spillovers arising from policies of individual members that may significantly influence the effective operation of the international monetary system.
- Gender coverage: Coverage of gender issues in multilateral surveillance has so far been limited, but the Fund has increasingly taken up gender issues in its flagship reports (e.g., the World Economic Outlook), noting that women were among those hit hardest by the economic fallout of the pandemic.
- Spillovers and gender: Gender issues in one member have so far not expressly been acknowledged as generating spillover effects of the type covered in the Fund’s multilateral surveillance. However, evolving global interconnectedness and changing exposure to spillovers within and across regions increases the scope for new spillovers that may significantly influence the effective operation of the international monetary system.

### Financial assistance to members
- Legal basis: Under Article I(v), Article V, Section 3(a), and Article V, Section 2(b) of the Articles of Agreement, the Fund can provide temporary financing to members from general resources and financial services consistent with the Fund’s purposes.
- Two main financial assistance sources:
  - General Resources Account (GRA) — available to all IMF members as set forth in Article I(v) and Article V, Section 3(a).
  - Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) — available to PRGT-eligible members (low-income countries), established under Article V, Section 2(b).
- Objectives of GRA financing: Help members resolve balance of payments problems without undue recourse to measures destructive of national or international prosperity; rebuild international reserves; stabilize currencies; continue paying for imports; and restore conditions to achieve medium-term external viability while fostering strong and sustainable economic growth.
- Instruments: Financing through “Fund arrangements” (such as the Stand-By Arrangement) or approving outright “purchases or disbursements” (e.g., Rapid Credit Facility or Rapid Financing Instrument).
- Program design and conditionality:
  - The Fund may set “conditionality” where measures or variables are critical to achieving program goals.
  - Forms of program conditionality include structural conditionality:
    - prior actions: measures whose upfront implementation is critical and need to be completed before the scheduled IMF Executive Board discussion to approve an arrangement or complete a review; and
    - structural benchmarks: measures that constitute clear markers in assessing progress in implementation of critical structural reforms aimed at meeting program goals or monitoring implementation.
  - Structural and other conditionality depend on the member’s balance of payment need, circumstances, and the relevant Fund facility or instrument.
- Gender-related conditionality examples:
  - Egypt (2016 Extended Arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility): structural benchmark requiring the authorities to spend EGP 250 million to improve availability of public nurseries and other facilities to enhance women’s ability to seek jobs.
  - Niger (2016 Extended Arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility): structural benchmark requiring the authorities to update the 2008 national policy on gender to address gender equality issues.
  - Pakistan (2019 Extended Arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility): structural benchmark requiring the authorities to launch a financial inclusion strategy for women and update the benefit structure of an educational program to narrow the educational gender gap.
  - São Tomé and Príncipe (2019 Extended Arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility): structural benchmark requiring the authorities to submit a national strategy on women’s economic empowerment and financial inclusion.
- Non-conditional commitments supported by the Fund:
  - Jordan (2016 Extended Arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility): authorities committed to promote gender equality by facilitating access to publicly subsidized nurseries for low-income people, improving public transportation safety for women, and more effective regulation of home-based employment activities.
  - Argentina (2018 Stand-by Arrangement): authorities committed to increase public childcare to increase female labor force participation; the draft federal budget for 2019 includes a 12 percent expansion of public childcare.

### Capacity Development
- Legal basis and scope: Under Article V, Section 2(b), the IMF may provide technical and financial services, including capacity development (CD), which includes technical assistance and training, to strengthen institutional capacity to design and implement effective macroeconomic, financial, and structural policies. CD is voluntary for both the IMF and the member.
- Administration and financing: The IMF uses its own resources to provide CD, administers donor resources, and can set up administered accounts for CD.
- Focus areas relevant to gender: The IMF provides CD on structural measures that foster women’s economic empowerment and help close the gender gap for better macroeconomic and financial stability outcomes.
- Gender budgeting: One important CD focus is assisting countries with “gender budgeting,” an approach to fiscal policy and public financial management that promotes gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls by ensuring adequate resource allocation toward these goals.
- Reach: The IMF has provided advice on gender budgeting in over 60 countries, including Albania, Austria, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Niger, and Ukraine.

*Source: wpiea2022037-print-pdf - 1.      Fund surveillance*

### REFERENCES

### REFERENCES (Content Unit: wpiea2022037-print-pdf - REFERENCES)

### Legal frameworks, law reform, and normative change
- Anderson, D. C. and Whitman, T. L. (1972) ‘Control of Behavior through Law: Theory and Practice’, 47 Notre Dame Law Review, Volume 47 Issue 4, pp. 815-852.
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- Chiongson, R. A., Desai, D., Marchiori, T. and Woolcock, M. (2012) ‘Role of Law and Justice in Achieving Gender Equality’, Washington, DC: World Bank.
- Duchen, C. (1994) ‘Women’s Rights and Women’s Lives in France 1944-1968’, London: Routledge.
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- Shahar, I. (2008), Legal Pluralism and the Study of Shari’a Courts’, Islamic Law and Society, Volume 15, No. 1, pp. 112-141.
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### Labor market participation, parental leave, and work–family reconciliation
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- Asian Development Bank (2013) ‘Gender equality in the labor market in the Philippines’.
- Ballester Pastor, M. (2012) ‘Legal effects of the economic crisis on gender equality in Spain: Effects on the right to reconciliate work and family after the 2012 labour law reform’, European Gender Equality Law Review, No. 2, pp. 20-29.
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- Capital (2020), ‘Congé maternité: durée, calcul et indemnités’, Boluze, L. (reporter).

### Fiscal policy, taxation, and gender budgeting
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- Fabrizio, S., Gomes D. and Tavares, M. (2021) ‘COVID-19 She-Cession: The Employment Penalty of Taking Care of Young Children’, IMF Working Paper, WP/21/58, Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.
- Grown, C. and Komatsu, H. (2010), in ‘Taxation and Gender Equity: A comparative analysis of direct and indirect taxes in developing and developed countries’, Grown, C. and Valodia, I. (eds.), Routledge.
- OECD (2016) ‘Taxing Wages, Special feature: Measuring the tax wedge on second earners’.
- Stotsky, J. G. (1996) ‘Gender bias in tax systems’, IMF Working Paper WP/96/99, Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.
- Stotsky, J. G. (2016) ‘Gender Budgeting: Fiscal Context and Current Outcomes’, IMF Working Paper WP/16/149, Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.
- Stotsky, J. G. (2017) ‘Tax Proposals: A Missed Opportunity for Addressing Implicit Gender Bias’, The Gender Policy Report.
- Taylor, L. L. and Dar, J. (2015) ‘Fairer Trade, Removing Gender Bias in US Import Taxes’, Mosbacher Institute for Trade, Economics & Public Policy.
- Council of Europe (2005) ‘Gender Budgeting in Europe’, Final report of the Group of specialists on gender budgeting (EG-S-GB).
- IMF (2017b) ‘Gender budgeting in G7 countries’, Policy Paper, Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.

### IMF, multilateral analyses, and policy guidance on gender and jobs
- Christiansen, L., Lin, H., Pereira, J., Topalova, P. and Turk, R. (2016) ‘Individual Choice or Policies? Drivers of Female Employment in Europe’, IMF Working Paper, WP/16/49, Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.
- Fabrizio, S., Fruttero, A., Gurara, D. Kolovich, L. Malta, V., Tavares, M. and Tchelishvili, N. (2020) ‘Women in the Labor Force: The Role of Fiscal Policies’, IMF Staff Discussion Note, SDN/20/03, Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.
- Gonzales, C., Jain-Chandra, S., Kochhar, K. and Newiak, M. (2015a) ‘Fair Play: More Equal Laws Boost Female Labor Force Participation’, IMF Staff Discussion Note SDN/15/02, Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.
- Gonzales, C., Jain-Chandra, S., Kochhar, K., Newiak, M. and Zeinullayev T. (2015b) ‘Catalyst for Change: Empowering Women and Tackling Income Inequality’, IMF Staff Discussion Note SDN/15/20, Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.
- IMF (2010a) ‘The Fund’s Mandate–An Overview’, Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.
- IMF (2010b) ‘The Fund’s Mandate – The Legal Framework’, Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.
- IMF (2012) ‘Modernizing the Legal Framework for Surveillance – An Integrated Surveillance Decision’, Policy Paper, Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.
- IMF (2013a) ‘Jobs and Growth-Analytical and Operational Considerations for the Fund’, Policy Paper, Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.
- IMF (2013b) ‘Guidance Note on Jobs and Growth Issues in Surveillance and Program Work’, Policy Paper, Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.
- IMF (2015a) ‘Guidance Note for Surveillance under Article IV Consultations’, Policy Paper, Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.
- IMF (2018) ‘How to Operationalize Gender Issues in Country Work’, Policy Paper, Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.
- IMF (2020a) ‘The COVID-19 Gender Gap’, Georgieva, K., Fabrizio, S., Lim, C. H. and Tavares, M. M. (authors), IMF Blog, Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.
- IMF (2020b) ‘Spain, Selected Issues’, IMF Country Report No. 20/299, Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.
- IMF, UNDP, UN Women (2021) ‘Gender Equality and COVID-19: Policies and Institutions for Mitigating the Crisis’, by Tang, V., Santiago, A., Khan, Z., Amaglobeli, D., Dugarova, E., Gifford, K., Gores, L., Honda, J., Klemm, A., Renteria, C., Soler, A., Staab, S., Osorio Buitron, C. and Zhang, Q., Special Series on Covid-19, Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.

### COVID-19, She‑cession, and crisis impacts on women
- Fabrizio, S., Gomes D. and Tavares, M. (2021) ‘COVID-19 She-Cession: The Employment Penalty of Taking Care of Young Children’, IMF Working Paper, WP/21/58, Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.
- IMF (2020a) ‘The COVID-19 Gender Gap’, Georgieva, K., Fabrizio, S., Lim, C. H. and Tavares, M. M. (authors), IMF Blog, Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.
- IMF, UNDP, UN Women (2021) ‘Gender Equality and COVID-19: Policies and Institutions for Mitigating the Crisis’, Tang et al., Special Series on Covid-19, Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.
- Malala Fund (2020) ‘Girl’s Education and Covid-19. What past shocks can teach us about mitigating the impact of pandemics’
- UN Women (2020) ‘Justice for Women amidst Covid-19’.
- UN Women (2021) ‘Report on the UN Women Global response to COVID-19’, Policy, Programme & Intergovernmental Division UN Women.
- United Nations (2020) ‘Policy Brief: The Impact of Covid-19 on Women’.

### Country- and region-specific studies and indices
- David, C., Albert, J. and Vizmanos, J. (2018) ‘Sustainable Development Goal 5: How Does the Philippines Fare on Gender Equality?’, Research Paper Series No. 2018-04, Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
- Defensoría del Pueblo (Office of the Ombudsman) (2019) ‘Ley de Igualdad de Oportunidades entre Mujeres y Hombres 2007-2017, Balance del Cumplimiento (Law on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men 2007-2017, Balance of Compliance)’.
- DEMUS (2010) ‘Los Derechos Humanos de las Mujeres en el Perú (The Human Rights of Women in Peru)’.
- EIGE (2013) ‘Gender Equality Index Report’, European Institute for Gender Equality.
- EIGE (2019) ‘Gender Equality Index 2019: Spain Profile’, European Institute for Gender Equality.
- European Commission (2019) ‘Country Report, Gender Equality, Spain’, European Network of legal experts in gender equality and non-discrimination.
- European Parliament (2015) ‘The Policy on Gender Equality in France’, Directorate-General for Internal Policies, Policy Department C: Citizen’s Rights and Constitutional Affairs.
- Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática (National Institute for Statistics and Informatics) (2018), ‘Perú: Brechas de Avances hacia la igualdad de Género 2018 mujeres y hombres (Peru: Gaps in Progress towards Gender Equality 2018 women and men)’.
- La Vanguardia (2019) ‘España en perspectiva de género’, Gálvez, L. (reporter), La Vanguardia Dossier.
- Maluleke, M. J. (2012) ‘Culture, Tradition, Custom, Law and Gender Equality’, Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal, Volume 15, No. 1, pp. 2-22.
- New York City (2015) ‘From Cradle to Cane: The Cost of Being a Female Consumer: A Study of Gender Pricing in New York City’, New York City Department of Consumer Affairs.
- Novta, N. and Wong, J. C. (2017) ‘Women at Work in Latin America and the Caribbean’, IMF Working Paper WP/17/34, Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.
- OECD (2019a) ‘SIGI 2019 Global Report: Transforming Challenges into Opportunities’, Social Institutions and Gender Index, OECD Publishing, Paris.
- OECD (2019b) ‘SIGI 2019 Country Profile: Philippines’, Social Institutions and Gender Index.
- OECD/ILO/CAWTAR (2020) ‘Changing Laws and Breaking Barriers for Women’s Economic Empowerment in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia, Competitiveness and Private Sector Development’, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/ac780735-en.
- Philippine Commission on Women (2019) ‘Beijing Declaration and Plan for Action (BPfA +25) 2014-2019 Philippine Progress Report’.
- Rigol, N., Pande, R., Field, E., Schaner, S. and Troyer Moore, C. (2016) ‘On Her Account: Can Strengthening Women's Financial Control Boost Female Labor Supply?’ Working Paper, Harvard Business School.
- Santiago, C. (2008) ‘Philippines: Country Gender Profile’, Japan International Cooperation Agency.
- Wiig, H. (2013) ‘Joint Titling in Rural Peru: Impact on Women’s Participation in Household Decision-Making’, World Development, Volume 52, pp. 104-119.
- Vargas, M. (2019) ‘ODS 5 Igualdad de género en el Perú: ¿Cómo vamos?’, Stakeholders.com.

### Measurement, indices, and quantitative assessments of gender equality
- EIGE (2013) ‘Gender Equality Index Report’, European Institute for Gender Equality.
- EIGE (2019) ‘Gender Equality Index 2019: Spain Profile’, European Institute for Gender Equality.
- McKinsey Global Institute (2015) ‘The power of parity: How advancing women’s equality can add $12 trillion to global growth’, McKinsey & Company.
- World Economic Forum (2006) ‘Global Gender Gap Report 2006’.
- World Economic Forum (2021) ‘Global Gender Gap Report 2021’.
- World Bank (2018) ‘Women, Business and the Law 2018’, Washington, DC: World Bank.
- World Bank (2019) ‘Women, Business and the Law 2019’, Washington, DC: World Bank.
- World Bank (2020) ‘Women, Business and the Law 2020’, Washington, DC: World Bank.
- World Bank (2021) ‘Women, Business and the Law 2021’, Washington, DC: World Bank.
- Ñopo, H. (2012) ‘New Century, Old Disparities, Gender and Ethnic Earnings Gaps in Latin America and the Caribbean’, Washington, DC: Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank.

### Behavioral, cultural, and historical analyses of gender norms
- Bilz, K. and Nadler, J. (2014) ‘Law, Moral Attitudes, and Behavioral Change’, in: Zamir, E. and Teichman, D. (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Behavioral Economics and the Law.
- McAdams, R. H. (2000) ‘An Attitudinal Theory of Expressive Law’, Oregon Law Review, Volume 47, No. 2, pp. 339-390.
- Romaniuc, R. (2016) ‘What Makes Law to Change Behavior? An Experimental Study’, Review of Law and Economics, Volume 12, No. 2, pp. 447-475.
- Garbaye, L. (2015) ‘Female and Male Activism for Women’s Rights in Eighteenth Century America and France’, XVII-XVIII, No. 72, pp. 213-230.
- Dauphin, S. (2016) ‘La politique familiale et l’égalité femmes-hommes: les ambiguïtés du «libre choix» en matière de conciliation vie familiale et vie professionnelle’, Regards, Volume 2, No. 50, pp. 85-98.
- Sobritchea, C. (2005) ‘Representations of Gender Inequality and Women's Issues in Philippine Feminist Discourses’, Asian Journal of Women’s Studies, Volume 11, No. 2, pp. 67-88.
- Malala Fund (2020) ‘Girl’s Education and Covid-19. What past shocks can teach us about mitigating the impact of pandemics’

*Tackling Legal Impediments to Women’s Economic Empowerment — Working Paper No. WP/22/37*

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/wp/2022/english/wpiea2022037-print-pdf.pdf_