Why gender-responsive economic policies still matter

The Beijing Platform for Action, agreed 30 years ago, provided a pathbreaking framework for addressing gender inequalities and realizing women’s and girls’ human rights in all domains, including in the economy. Since then, the world economies have changed enormously but the economic agenda the Platform for Action charted remains acutely relevant. Not only because equality between women and men has not been achieved – some gender gaps are persistent and some others have even exacerbated– but because the underlying root causes for the disadvantaged position of women in the economy remain for the most part stubbornly unchanged, while new and pressing challenges have emerged. As governments embark in appraising what has been achieved and what is still to be done in the 69th meeting of the Commission for the Status of Women this month, we review the economic policies needed for transformative change to be achieved. 

© UN Women/Ploy Phutpheng

The Beijing +30 review paints a bleak picture with regards to women and the economy 

The Beijing +30 review confirms the continued relevance of the Beijing Platform for Action agreed in 1995 to remove the legal, social and economic barriers that prevent women and girls from fulfilling their potential. It also looks back to the last 5 years (from Beijing +25) to note that women are still experiencing the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath; and their employment rate has not recovered from the pre-pandemic years, with the exception of high-income countries and India (that drives the otherwise negative picture for lower-middle income countries) (Figure 1). Informal employment still constitutes more than half of non-agricultural employment for women in most developing regions, and gender gaps in earnings persist everywhere. Sectoral and occupational segregation are behind these patterns, as is the unequal distribution of unpaid care work, which limits women’s ability to enter and remain in the labour force. 

Moreover, new challenges have emerged, including digitalization, the climate crisis and heightened economic uncertainties that particularly impact women in low- and middle-income countries. Setbacks have meant that achieving gender equality in these countries has become more elusive than ever, as it is projected to cost $6.4 trillion annually until 2030, or 20.5 per cent of the collective GDP of 48 of these countries – an enormous resource bill these countries are currently not in the position to meet. In fact, the opposite is true: rising debt levels constrain policy space in these countries, including for creating decent jobs and investing in gender equality. 

Figure 1: Changes in global employment-to-population ratios, by age and country income group, 2019–2025 
 

Source: ILOSTAT, accessed January 2025. Note: Data for 2025 is a projection. (Index 2019= 100)

Gender-responsive economic policies are key to revert the situation 

For most women, their economic position is mediated by their participation in employment and the quality of jobs they have access to – in other words, by whether their right to work and their rights at work are fulfilled. Sometimes when these rights are not fulfilled, the focus of targeted policy interventions is exclusively on women – on whether they lack the skills, the assets or the time to engage in the labour market, for example. But such focus is not enough in the absence of decent job opportunities. Creating decent job opportunities for women is one powerful entry point to revert their persistent decent employment deficits, addressing sectoral segregation and redistributing unpaid care work in line with ILO’s 5R framework. 

For most women, their economic position is mediated by their participation in employment and the quality of jobs they have access to – in other words, by whether their right to work and their rights at work are fulfilled. 

How do we do that? There are three gender-responsive economic policy priorities countries can implement: 

Gender-responsive sectoral policies: Sectoral policies can contribute to addressing gender inequalities in the quantity and quality of employment, observable in the patters of gender segregation that make some sectors and occupations being “dominated” by women and others where there are high proportions of men. Sectoral policies help in the identification of sectors that would maximize decent employment opportunities for women, as well as removing barriers that prevent women from entering dynamic and high-productivity sectors. This will ensure that women truly benefit from the new job opportunities that emerge, and that measures are taken to avoid or compensate for the employment losses that structural transformation processes entail, including green transitions. 

Public investments in universal care services: Investing in universal care services – in healthcare, including in long-term care, and in education, including early childhood care and education – contributes to women’s economic inclusion through the alleviation of some of their unpaid work time. It also contributes to creating decent work for care workers, most of whom are women, and therefore to a demand-driven, job-rich growth.   

Gender-responsive macroeconomic policies: These policies explicitly promote gender equality by embedding gender-related goals in fiscal, monetary, exchange rate and debt-management policies. Gender-responsive budgeting (GRP), expanding fiscal space through finding gender-responsive financing options, and gender-responsive trade policies are some good examples of gender-responsive macroeconomic policies. They are part and parcel of coherent, comprehensive and integrated employment policy frameworks and need to work in tandem with sectoral, skills and active labour market policies to produce gender egalitarian outcomes. 

As we approach the deliberations of the Beijing +30 review and the identification of policy priorities to accelerate the implementation of the Platform for Action, these gender-responsive economic policies will be crucial in our quest for inclusive development, shared prosperity, and decent work for all.

*The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of ILO.

Valeria Esquivel leads the Gender in Employment Group in the EMPLAB Branch of the ILO Employment Policy, Job Creation and Livelihoods Department, supporting the implementation of gender-responsive employment policies. She coordinated from the ILO side the global UN Women-ILO Joint Program Promoting decent employment for women through inclusive growth policies and investments in care. She is a feminist economist, having published extensively on macroeconomic, sectoral and labour market policies.