UN Women - ILO Policy Tool

How to assess fiscal stimulus packages from a gender equality perspective

UN Women – ILO Joint Programme Promoting Decent Employment for Women through Inclusive Growth Strategies and Investments in Care.

The policy support tool aims at embedding gender equality concerns in national fiscal stimulus packages as well as in the design of national policy responses.

First, it identifies the transmission channels by which gender is salient in contributing to inequality and material deprivation, based on COVID-19 specific gendered effects.

Second, it discusses the adequacy of the size of fiscal packages relative to the size of the problem they are meant to solve.

Third, fiscal stabilization and stimulus packages are assessed from a gender equality perspective, identifying areas that macro-level policies can effectively target to address gendered impacts of the crisis, with guidance on indicators that can be used in policy assessments.

Fourth, monetary policy is similarly assessed from a gender equality perspective.

Fifth, the tool considers the role of gender budgeting in the development and evaluation of fiscal and monetary stimulus packages.