Gender budgeting: The economic and fiscal rationale

Abstract

Gender gaps persist in the labour market, with women less likely than men to be in employment in all OECD countries. This paper highlights the economic and fiscal dividends that could be achieved from closing the gender employment gap. It shows that increasing women’s participation in the labour market can bring positive GDP and productivity gains, as well as improvements to fiscal sustainability. Increased participation of women in the workforce is particularly helpful in the context of the shrinking labour forces that many OECD countries are expected to face over the coming decades. The paper illustrates how gender budgeting can be used by governments to mobilise policy making to close gender gaps in the labour market and help realise these economic and fiscal gains.