Gender responsive budgeting and the COVID-19 pandemic response: a feminist standpoint

Abstract

Acknowledging the need for more gender work in Public Administration, this paper engages feminist standpoint theory to analytically frame the outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic from a feminist perspective. By assessing the differential impact of the pandemic on women and men in the United States across several sectors of the political economy and society, it is apparent women face immense obstacles in the labor market, as well as in access to health, food and housing. This analytical approach is in line with the United Nation's fifth Sustainable Development Goal, gender equity. The imperative to include women's perspectives in pandemic response and planning is juxtaposed against the current pandemic response that primarily leaves women out of the decision-making process. The policy tool of gender responsive budgeting, successfully implemented in various countries, is proposed to offset the gender inequities triggered by the pandemic in the U.S.

Gender Differences in Enterprise Performance During the COVID-19 Crisis: Do Public Policy Responses Matter?

“…This could be because women entrepreneurs did not receive a fair share of economic support, or because their specific interests were not well-understood by male decision makers who dominate the landscape of politics and policy making ( Josephson & Marshall, 2016 ). The design and execution of such economic support policies could thus be influence by the same structural forces that placed women at a disadvantage, such as patriarchal norms that skew the work-life balance against women ( Viswanath & Mullins, 2021 ).…”

The Rethoric of Gender Mainstreaming During Covid-19 Pandemic in North Sumatra

“…Local governments are more likely than the central government to expand epidemic response measures, such as providing better water and sanitation services to slum areas or personal protective equipment for street vendors, scavengers, and other informal sector workers [9] [10]. The feminist approach explains the importance of the government's role by emphasizing their authority in formulating and implementing gender responsive budgets in ensuring women's access to employment, health, food and housing during the Covid-19 pandemic [11].…”

Actions for Queering American Public Administration

“…Challenges in child care, especially for women of color who are primary caretakers, has expressed itself in calls for universal child care (Elias & D'Agostino, 2020). And Viswanath and Mullins (2020) highlight disproportionate impacts on women from underrepresented groups (i.e., racial, ethnic, socio-economic and immigrant statuses, and sexual orientations), proposing gender-responsive budgeting as a tool to mitigate gender inequities exacerbated by the pandemic.…”