New IMF Study, Data Tool, Assess Fiscal Policies to Tackle Gender Inequality

IMF News, July 28, 2016

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Canonical URL: New IMF Study, Data Tool, Assess Fiscal Policies to Tackle Gender Inequality

Publication date: July 28, 2016
The IMF conducted the first-ever global review of policymakers’ use of tax and spending policies to promote gender equality and released an online database toolkit of gender equality indicators worldwide.
The project is part of a broader IMF program on macroeconomic policy in low-income countries, supported by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development.
IMF staff will present the results of the study at an IMF conference on Fiscal Policies and Gender Equality on November 7, 2016.

The online toolkit includes:
- Data on 60 case studies on gender budgeting efforts.
- Two time-consistent indices of gender equality, spanning 1990–2013 and covering most countries in the world.
Researchers and students have free access to the toolkit.
The gender inequality indices were derived from modified approaches to two UNDP gender equality indices, using data from the World Bank’s gender data portal.
The toolkit can be used to investigate the relationship between countries that have implemented policies to improve gender equality and the gender equality indices.

Gender inequality in economic opportunities persists worldwide.
Eliminating gender inequality can lead to:
- Faster economic growth.
- A higher quality of life.
- Women’s economic and political empowerment.
Spending and tax policies can promote fair treatment of men and women.

Gender budgeting can promote gender equality through:
- Well-structured fiscal policies.
- Adequate and properly monitored spending on gender-related goals.
In some countries, gender budgeting inspired fiscal policies in key budget areas—education, health, and infrastructure—that contributed to gender-related goals and improved accountability for public spending for gender-related purposes.

Gender budgeting goals are aligned with other national development plans.
- Example: Rwanda and Uganda—alignment helps ensure clear, ambitious gender-related objectives that get incorporated into budget policies and programs.
Ministries of finance, parliaments, and spending ministries play a critical role.
- Example: Austria and Kerala state, India—meaningful fiscal policy changes occurred only when supported by the political center of fiscal decision making.
International organizations, civil society, and academic researchers provide crucial technical assistance and financial support.
- Example: Mexico and Tanzania—civil society and academic researchers play supporting and catalytic roles.
Policies are underpinned by strong monitoring.
- Example: Rwanda—effective efforts rely on governments improving policies and programs over time through monitoring.

In developing countries, gender budgeting should address:
- Key gender-related education and health goals.
- Public infrastructure deficiencies (e.g., household access to clean water or electricity) that impose high unpaid work burdens on girls and women.
- Improved administration of justice, law, and order, to help reduce violence against girls and women.
- Restructuring of income tax and indirect tax systems to support gender-related goals.

Strengthened commitment by fiscal policymakers and governmental bureaucracies to incorporating gender equality goals into fiscal policies and programs has the potential to reap large rewards for individual countries and the global economy.

International Monetary Fund, July 28, 2016