IMF Gender Budgeting in G7 Countries

April 19, 2017 GENDER BUDGETING IN G7 COUNTRIES
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
At the request of the Italian Presidency of the G7, the IMF has prepared a paper on
gender-budgeting as a contribution to the G7 initiative on equality. The paper
provides an overview of gender-responsive budgeting concepts and practices in the
G7 countries. It summarizes recent trends in gender equality in G7 and advanced
countries, noting that while equality has improved overall, exceptions and gaps remain.
Recognizing that many fiscal policies have gender-related implications, this paper:
 Sets out the main fiscal policy instruments, both expenditure and tax, that have a
significant impact on gender equality.
 Provides a conceptual framework for the public financial management (PFM)
institutions that play an enabling role in implementing gender-responsive fiscal
policies. These instruments include gender budget statements, gender impact
assessments, performance-related budget frameworks, and gender audits. Ministries
of finance have an especially important role in promoting and coordinating gender
budgeting, and associated analytical tools.
 Provides an assessment of the status of gender budgeting in the G7 countries. In
preparing the paper, the IMF carried out a survey of PFM institutions and practices in
the G7, as well as in three comparator countries that are relatively strong performers
in developing gender-responsive budgeting (Austria, Belgium, and Spain). This
information was complemented by other sources, including recent studies by the
OECD and the World Bank.
The main policy implications and conclusions of the paper include:
 Well-structured fiscal policies and sound PFM systems have the potential to
contribute to gender equality, furthering the substantial progress already made by
the G7 countries.
 While G7 countries have made effective use of a wide range of fiscal and non-fiscal
policies to reduce gender inequalities, there has generally been less progress in
developing effective gender-specific PFM institutions; embedding a gender
dimension in the normal budgeting and policy-making routines varies across G7
countries and is not done systematically.
 Fiscal policy instruments of relevance to increasing gender equality include the use
of tax and tax benefits to increase the supply of female labor, improved family
benefits, subsidized child-care, other social benefits that increase the net return to
women’s work, and incentives for businesses to encourage the hiring of women.
GENDER BUDGETING IN G7 COUNTRIES
Approved By Supervised by Sanjeev Gupta and prepared by a Fiscal Affairs

Vitor Gaspar Department (FAD) team led by Manal Fouad and Carolina Renteria,
and comprising Virginia Alonso Albarran, Teresa Curristine, Johann
Seiwald, and Alberto Soler (all FAD), Richard Allen and Janet Stotsky
(FAD visiting scholars). Research assistance was provided by
Nour Chamseddine.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION __________________________________________________________________________________ 3
TRENDS IN GENDER EQUALITY IN G7 AND ADVANCED COUNTRIES _________________________ 5
GENDER-RESPONSIVE BUDGETING: FISCAL POLICIES AND PFM PRACTICES _________________ 7
THE STATUS OF GENDER BUDGETING IN G7 AND ADVANCED ECONOMIES _______________ 13
POLICY IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS _________________________________________________ 24
BOXES
1. Gender Budget Statements ____________________________________________________________________ 11
2. Approaches to Gender Audit __________________________________________________________________ 12
3. Key Gender-Related Initiatives in G7 Countries________________________________________________ 14
4. Austria: Gender-Oriented Budgeting __________________________________________________________ 22
FIGURES
1. Composite Indexes of Gender Equality __________________________________________________________ 5
2. Achievements and Challenges in Gender Equality _______________________________________________ 6
3. Stages of the Budget Process ___________________________________________________________________ 9
TABLES
1. Key Gender-Related Fiscal Policies Implemented by G7 Countries ____________________________ 16
2. Survey of PFM Institutions in Advanced Countries ____________________________________________ 18
APPENDICES
I. Questionnaire Used to Assess Gender-Responsiveness of PFM Systems in G7 Countries______ 26
II. Gender Budgeting in G7 and other Selected Countries _______________________________________ 28
References _______________________________________________________________________________________ 36
2 INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

INTRODUCTION
1. This paper responds to a request from the Italian Presidency of the G7 for the IMF to
prepare a report on gender budgeting as part of its focus on inequality. In a broader context,
the paper responds to the international community’s commitment to achieving gender equality and
the advancement of women. 1 The Fourth World Conference on Women laid out a vision of
achieving gender equality in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action two decades ago.2,3 The
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and its successor, the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs), adopted by the United Nations in 2015, set a goal for gender equality and the
empowerment of girls and women.4
2. The macroeconomic gains resulting from gender equality and women’s participation
in the labor market have been amply demonstrated. Several studies5 have presented evidence on
the channels through which women’s development and the reduction of gender inequality lead to
more rapid economic growth, improved labor productivity, healthier children, and more responsive
government. Lagarde (2013) highlights the advantages of equalizing women’s role in economic and
political life and reducing gender income inequalities. Fiscal policies with a gender focus have
beneficial supply-side effects. In particular, these policies expand female labor participation as well
as the faster accumulation of human capital (both in terms of better education/training and
improved health), thereby generating solid productivity growth and investment in physical capital.
By doing so, they increase demand growth and boost long-term output per capita. Another indirect
impact is related to fertility patterns; however, the net effect of policies in this regard is less clear
and likely depends on the country’s initial conditions.6
3. Most advanced countries, including those in the G7, have made substantial
progress in improving gender equality through a wide range of fiscal, regulatory, and
1
Gender equality has been defined by the United Nations as “the equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities of
women and men and girls and boys”. United Nations, Office of the Special Advisor on Gender Issues and
Advancement of Women, Gender Mainstreaming Strategy for Promoting Gender Equality.
2
See http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/platform.
3 See also the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW),
adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1979, which emphasizes the importance of gender equality to
strengthen prosperity and as a matter of basic human rights. Elson (2006) discusses CEDAW.
4
Goal No.5 of the 17 SDGs. The United Nations highlights that achieving this goal entails among other objectives
ending sexual violence and exploitation and unequal division of unpaid care and domestic work, providing equal
access to education, health care, decent work, and representation in political and economic decision-making
processes.
5
The World Bank (2011), Duflo (2012), and Elborgh-Woytek et al. (2013), Stotsky, 2016).
6
Gender policies have various effects on the fertility rate. A large wage gain due to integration of women into the
labor market increases the opportunity costs of child bearing. But a reduction in the costs of having children through
lengthier paid leave as well as higher income can promote larger families. The larger the barriers for accessing the
labor market, the more likely for the first effect will prevail. See Borkar (2016) and Arbino, Baizan and Delclos (2016).
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND 3

structural policies over the past decades. Advanced countries have largely eliminated gender
disparities in key aspects of education and health care, even while women still face disadvantages in
economic and political life.7 Most countries have committed to improving women’s participation
and equality in the workforce and addressing other economic inequalities.
4. Despite progress, there remains an unfinished agenda. In particular, there are areas
of economic and political life where women are at a distinct disadvantage. Progress remains slow
in closing the pay gap between women and men and ensuring that women are fairly represented in
managerial and elected political positions and have equal opportunities to access finance and to
grow businesses. There is considerable variation in progress on these issues in advanced economies
including the G7. Fiscal policy and public financial management (PFM) institutions are key to
operationalizing gender-related goals and policies, but are not fully effective in many countries.
The G7 country reports prepared for the twentieth anniversary of the Beijing Declaration indicate the
continuing commitment of these countries to the achievement of gender equal societies.8
5. This paper uses a broad definition of gender-responsive budgeting to support the

achievement of gender equality in the G7 and other advanced countries. A widely recognized
definition of gender budgeting is “integrating a clear gender perspective within the overall context
of the budgetary process through special processes and analytical tools, with a view to promoting
gender-responsive policies,” (OECD, 2016). Others define gender budgeting more broadly as an
approach that uses fiscal policy and public financial management instruments to promote gender
equality and girls’ and women’s development (Stotsky, 2016). This paper adopts the latter definition.
6. Thus, gender-responsive budgeting can take different forms. One broad approach
focuses on the government’s expenditure policies, budgetary allocations, and tax policies. A
narrower approach limits its focus to PFM practices, mainly related to different stages of the budget
cycle—preparation, allocation, prioritization, execution, monitoring and evaluation—that are
gender-responsive (Stotsky, 2016). Some policies that are non-fiscal in nature also have gender-
related objectives, e.g., equal opportunities legislation. Finally, there are policies which are neither
fiscal nor specifically focused on gender-related objectives, but which have a gender impact, for
example policies and legislation that discriminate against women’s access to labor markets,
mortgage markets, and social security programs.
7. Section II presents recent trends in gender equality in advanced countries. Section III
lays out a framework for analyzing both the fiscal policy and PFM institutions for effective gender-
responsive budgeting. Section IV outlines the current state of gender-responsive budgeting in these
countries. Section V presents policy implications and conclusions.
7
See Stotsky, Shibuya, Kolovich, and Kebhaj (2016).
8
They are listed in the references under their respective country names.

TRENDS IN GENDER EQUALITY IN G7 AND ADVANCED

COUNTRIES
8. Overall indicators of gender equality for the G7 show an improvement since the early
1990s. Looking at trends in overall gender equality, using both variants of the United Nations
Development Program’s Gender Development Index (GDI) (higher index numbers indicate greater
equality) and Gender Inequality Index (GII) (lower index numbers indicate greater equality), it
appears that gender equality has been steadily improving in the G7 countries in recent years, using
an unweighted average of the countries (Figure 1).9
Figure 1. G7 Countries: Composite Indexes of Gender Equality

GDI GII, time-consistent version
Source: Stotsky et al. (2016) and staff calculations
9. Looking at specific indicators of gender equality for G7, however, shows a mixed
picture (Figure 2). Among the areas of progress, women’s participation in the labor force has been
steadily increasing in the last two decades in most countries, including most G7 countries, and on
average more women than men obtain a university degree.10 However, there remain significant gaps
in pay, and the main burden of unpaid work is on women, indicating that women are still the
primary caregiver for household, children, and the elderly, a situation creating obstacles to their
fulltime employment. In addition, while there has been major progress in reducing the gap between
men and women in managerial positions, men remain better represented in such positions, as well
as in the political sphere (such as in legislatures).
9
The GDI uses a weighted aggregation of education, health, and income indicators. Higher index numbers indicate
greater gender equality. The GII uses a weighted aggregation of health, education, labor force, and political
empowerment indicators and, unlike the GDI, uses some indicators unique to women. Lower index numbers indicate
greater gender equality. For more details about the methodology, see Stotsky et al. (2016).
10
In the US, however, the female labor participation has been declining since the beginning of the crisis. Both cyclical
and demographic factors account for around three-quarter of this fall, a remaining gap—particularly since 2012—
remains largely unexplained (CEA, 2014).

Figure 2. G7 Countries: Achievements and Challenges in Gender Equality

In general, women’s participation is increasing And overall, more women than men graduate
steadily from tertiary education.
and the main burden of unpaid work is still on

The gender pay gap is still high…
women
Women are still under-represented in decision- and in Parliament, though there has been some
making bodies such as managerial positions… progress.
Source: OECD (2016) and staff calculations. “Non G7

countries” comprise all other OECD countries.

GENDER-RESPONSIVE BUDGETING: FISCAL POLICIES

AND PFM PRACTICES
10. As noted above, gender-responsive budgeting in a broad sense can involve both the
adoption of fiscal policies related to gender equality and gender-responsive PFM. Thus, fiscal
policy and PFM practices are complementary. Gender-responsive budgeting efforts are intended to
commit governments to weighing the benefits and costs of policies that would promote gender
equality, and to include appropriate measures in the budget in response to this evaluation. The
important point is not whether an initiative is labeled as “gender budgeting” but whether fiscal
policies and PFM practices and tools are formulated and implemented with a view to promoting and
achieving gender equality objectives, and allocating adequate resources for achieving them. This
section sets out a conceptual framework for assessing (i) the fiscal policies that are related to gender
objectives; and (ii) the PFM practices that allow these policies to be operationalized efficiently and
effectively. It forms the context against which G7 countries practices are assessed in the following
section.
Gender-responsive fiscal policies
11. Most fiscal policies have implications for gender equality to a greater or lesser extent.
But more generally, it is important for governments to develop tools that can disentangle the
gender impact of policies, whether or not the primary objective of these policies is gender-related.
 In practice, the proportion of public expenditure dedicated to explicit gender equality

objectives is limited (UN-WIDER, 2014). However, the proportion of expenditures that can
be seen as contributing to gender equality and women’s advancement is larger because it
encompasses spending across many areas of the budget, most of which do not have
gender equality as their primary objective.
 The same is true for tax policies, which often have an unintended impact on gender. For
instance, a large literature, including OECD (2016) and Thomas and O’Reilly (2016), has
examined the implicit bias that occurs when tax and benefit systems interact with gender.
Another long-standing topic in public finance assesses the disincentive created by a
progressive income tax for second earners—who have tended to be women—to participate
in the workforce as compared to primary earners or single individuals.
12. Looking at advanced countries implementing gender-responsive budgets or aiming to

achieve gender equality, there is a degree of concurrence of supporting fiscal policies. These
policies aim to have an impact on labor and human capital development, thus contributing through
these channels to both economic growth and gender equality. The main policies are:
 Policies intended to promote the participation of women in the labor force. These policies
become more important in advanced countries with ageing populations and higher old-age

dependency ratios. In particular:
 The use of taxes and tax benefits (or transfers) to promote the supply of female labor.
Governments can adopt targeted tax reliefs to encourage female labor supply, which is more
responsive to taxes than male labor supply. Most advanced economies have replaced family
taxation with individual taxation to reduce the tax burden for secondary earners, and some
countries, for example the Netherlands has implemented targeted tax relief for single
parents.11
 On the expenditure side, policies to support female labor supply by improved family
benefits, including paid parental leave, subsidized child-care, and other social benefits that
increase the net return to women’s work.
 On the demand side of the labor market, initiatives include public subsidies and tax
incentives to businesses to encourage the hiring of women, including from
underrepresented or minority groups.
 Assistance to low-income families. Various policies specifically target low-income families,

with some having a gender perspective.
 Building human capital. These policies involve education and health initiatives to ensure that
women’s and girls’ education and health needs are being met.
 Fair and equivalent coverage for women under social insurance programs. Recent reforms of
social security and pensions systems take account of women’s relatively intermittent work
history, the greater incidence of part-time working, lower earnings, and the need for
parental leave.
 Reducing the incidence of domestic violence, and aiding the victims of such crimes. Policies in
this area require the allocation of resources through the budget to support judicial,
regulatory, or administrative programs and reforms.
13. Finally, governments can act as a role model in promoting gender equality. The main
policy in this regard relates to public employment through equal employment opportunities, equal
wage treatment, possible quotas in high-level committees, and promotion of women to senior
11
Several countries still employ a family-based personal income tax system because they view family income as the
correct measure of “ability to pay” and therefore the right unit for taxation. Under individual taxation, two families
with the same income but with different contributions of each partner could be treated very differently. In addition,
means-testing a benefit according to individual income can result in the government providing support to spouses in
a family where the other spouse is a high earner. However, such horizontal equity between family incomes: (i) is not
neutral regarding the choice of living separately or together; and (ii) provides strong disincentives for secondary
earners to participate in the labor market. As these issues have gained more weight in advanced economies,
countries have started to shift to individual taxation.

management positions.12 Governments’ foreign development aid programs can play a similar role in
tying aid to promote gender equality objectives. A recent report of a UN Secretary-General’s High-
Level Panel sets out seven principles of women’s economic empowerment and a range of specific
recommendations, including procurement (UNHLP, 2017).
PFM institutions and practices
14. PFM institutions play an enabling role in operationalizing gender-responsive fiscal

policies, such as those discussed above.13 PFM systems can be adapted to achieve improved
gender outcomes at the various stages of the budget cycle. Figure 3 provides a simplified and
stylized overview of the five stages of the budget/PFM cycle (for a more detailed description, see
Allen, et. al., 2013, also PEFA, 2016). The stages include the setting of fiscal policy goals and targets;
the preparation of the annual budget and its approval by the legislature; the control and execution
of the approved budget, and the collection of revenues; the preparation of accounts and financial
reports; and the independent oversight and audit of the budget.
Figure 3. Stages of the Budget Process
Source: IMF Staff.
15. It is important that fiscal policies relating to gender be fully integrated into the above-
mentioned framework, at all stages in the cycle.14 As noted, gender-responsive budgeting does
not require a new approach to budgeting, rather an explicit recognition of the existence of gender
elements paired with an adaptation and reinforcement of existing institutions and tools. The key
point is to define the critical entry points of the cycle for gender-related issues, including the tools
12
For example, currently, only one of the Executive Directors who represent G7 countries on the IMF’ s Executive
Board is a woman, leaving room for increasing participation of women in the IMF’s Executive Board’ s top positions.
13
Defined as the laws, regulations, procedures and systems related to PFM. See Allen, et al., 2013.
14
In some countries, the discussion of tax policies follows a different cycle to that of expenditures, and changes in tax
policy may be included in legislation that is separate from the annual budget. An example is the United Kingdom
where changes in the tax policy are included in an annual Finance Bill, which is separate from the expenditure
Estimates. However, the decision-making process on new taxes and spending policies generally proceed in parallel.

to assess policies, and the insurance that the policies approved by the government are funded and
implemented efficiently and effectively.
Legislation and guidelines on gender responsive budgeting
 A framework of rules and procedures for promoting gender-responsive budgeting may be

included in a country’s constitution, its budget law, or administrative guidelines (OECD,
2016). Along with a budget circular, these guidelines are essential to ensuring that spending
ministries and agencies are fully briefed on the legal and administrative procedures to be
followed in implementing gender responsive budgeting.
 Gender budget statements provide a strategic tool to implement gender-responsive policies

by allocating adequate resources to reach strategic goals and measuring impact and results
(Box 1). Typically, once the macroeconomic goals of the budget are established, the ministry
(or minister) of finance is charged with developing and delivering to the legislature (and
public) a statement of principles that will underlie the budget to be proposed for the coming
fiscal year.
 The budget circular instructs ministries and departments on how to complete their budget
submissions for the forthcoming fiscal year, and provides information on the
macroeconomic and other assumptions that ministries should adopt in preparing their
budget requests. The circular may state explicitly that gender be reported in budget
submissions, and will be considered an important criterion during negotiations. Another
approach is to require ministries to include gender-relevant indicators in their requests, to
provide data disaggregated by sex, or to request specific budgetary allocations for gender-
related programs or projects (Budlender, 2015).
Fiscal reports and budget documentation
16. Information systems need to be adapted to produce reports that include gender-
specific data. To generate these reports, it may be necessary to modify the budget classification
and the chart of accounts, and ensure that relevant reports are automatically produced through the
country’s financial management information system (FMIS). Outputs should focus on programs and
policies that have a significant impact on gender equality, for example in areas such as education,
health and social welfare programs, and indicators that can be readily quantified.15 Line ministries
and the central budget office should also assess the adequacy of budget allocations.16
15
For example: (i) how many women and men benefit from the services provided under the program or project, the
infrastructure built, cash transfers paid? (ii) are specific services offered to women and men, and what are their
respective costs? and (iii) are there any significant gaps, from a gender perspective, in the services provided? For
further information, see World Bank (2016).
16
Issues include whether: (i) the available budget is adequate to implement the program, taking account of possibly
different needs of men and women; (ii) budget allocations have increased or decreased in recent years; and (iii) the
services provided are affordable for all men and women in the targeted group? See World Bank (2016).

Box 1. Gender Budget Statements

A gender budget statement is usually described as a gender-specific accountability document
produced by a government agency to show what its programs and budgets are achieving with respect
to gender equality. Gender budget statements come in several forms; they can be accountability documents
presented to the legislature, or internal documents used as part of budget preparation. Traditionally these
statements were tabled in the legislature, often together with the annual budget documents. When a gender
budget statement is an accountability document for the legislature, it is generally prepared after
government agencies have completed the process of submitting their budget requests to the central budget
office, and these requests have been approved by the cabinet. Preparation of the gender budget statement
is therefore not part of the process of prioritization of policies and budgets.
Some governments prepare internal documents that are used at an earlier stage of the budget process and
may also be called gender budget statements. These documents are meant to inform budget prioritization.
They may be made publicly available, or be summarized in the budget documentation, or may not be made
public at all.
The Canadian Government’ s Gender Budget Statement, issued in 2017 is a good example. The Statement
includes gender-based analysis (GBA), which identifies the ways in which public policies affect women and
men differently. It does so through a systematic use of data to better tailor the design and delivery of
government programs. Recently, GBA has evolved to include factors such as ethnicity, age, income and
sexual orientation that must be considered in public policy along with and in relation to gender.
Source: Budlender (2015), Canadian authorities.
Performance-related budgeting frameworks
17. Performance-related budgeting frameworks are an important tool for promoting

gender equality. Often these frameworks are associated with a classification of the budget into
programs, leading to what is called “program-based budgeting.”17 Rather than just focusing on the
cost of inputs such as salaries and purchases of goods and services, performance-based or
program-based budgeting frameworks focus on the objectives, outputs and outcomes achieved in
the delivery of the public services financed through the budget. These approaches lend themselves
better than traditional input-based budgeting to incorporating policy-related objectives (including
on gender) into the budget process.
17
In program budgeting, as the name indicates, funds are allocated by program, which takes account of the
government’s policy objectives and how these policies will be implemented. Programs may be sub-divided into
activities (e.g., the vaccination activity within a disease prevention program), which in turn may encompass a series of
related initiatives and projects. Classifying expenditures by program serves two purposes: (i) to identify and clarify the
goals and objectives of government spending; and (ii) to monitor operational performance through indicators, which
may relate to the inputs, outputs or outcomes of a program.

Gender impact assessments and related tools18
18. Gender impact assessments are widely used by governments to assess the impact of
fiscal (and related) policies on individuals disaggregated by gender.19 For instance, it is possible
to assess whether boys or girls are the beneficiaries of public spending on public education by
calculating the number of students at different levels who benefit from different types of education.
Understanding the gender dimensions of existing policies is essential to establishing meaningful
performance standards and goals, and then using this information to take decisions on what
resources to allocate through the budget process (Clements, et. al., 2015). Governments can also
engage the research community/civil society actively in developing acceptable methodologies.
Accountability and audit
19. After the budget has been executed, ex post evaluations or audits of the impact and
effectiveness of gender-related policies can be undertaken. These evaluations are often
performed by a country’s national audit office. Box 2 outlines alternative approaches to preparing
an audit of gender-related policies. These tools are the flip side of the ex-ante gender impact
assessment described above, and the results can be used to modify the design of the policies being
assessed. Spending reviews can also be employed to assess the impact of gender-related policies,
and identify the scope for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of these policies.
Box 2. Approaches to Gender Audit

There are several ways that gender equality can be approached in an audit. One approach is to make gender
equality the primary focus of the audit. This would be appropriate when the government is delivering a
gender-specific program (e.g., maternal health) or a gender-equity program intended to remedy inherent
gender bias (e.g., educational bursaries for women).
Another approach is to make gender equality one line of enquiry within the audit. The scope of this audit
would be broader than gender equality alone, but the examination of gender-equality issues could result in
important findings and recommendations related to government commitments and obligations to promote
gender equality. An example would be an audit of a government program designed to provide financial
assistance to needy individuals. One line of enquiry, for example, could be to determine whether the
assessment of program eligibility results in women and men receiving benefits in numbers equal to their
representation in the eligible population.
Source: IMF and Caribbean Technical Assistance Center (CARTAC) staff.
18
Related tools include (i) gender budget baseline analysis; (ii) gender-related budget incidence analysis; and
(iii) gender needs assessment.
19
More complex analysis can take into account that not all government services can be disaggregated into
beneficiaries by gender, and that women and men are typically in combined households. More theoretically based
models are required to undertake analysis when this complexity is taken into account.

Organizational responsibilities for implementing gender budgeting
20. The coordination of decision-making within government on gender budgeting is often

fragmented and ineffective. Traditionally, the organization of government ministries and
departments results in one ministry being made responsible for the design and implementation of
policies in a particular area (e.g., education, healthcare, or housing). In policy areas that cut across
these traditional boundaries, the decision-making process is more complex because more than one
ministry may be responsible for delivering relevant services making the accountability more diffuse,
and hampering the coordination and implementation of policy measures.
 Some countries have established a gender-related ministry of women to facilitate the

coordination of policies and discussions and decision-making in the cabinet about sectoral
policies, tax policies and incentives, spending priorities and the allocation of resources
through the budget.20
 In other countries, the ministry of finance has been assigned primary responsibility for
leading the gender-responsive budgeting initiative. It establishes requirements for other
ministries and agencies within the government to follow; it is responsive to the requests of
the spending ministries in the allocation of funds to specific programs; and it works with the
revenue authorities to change tax laws or regulations.
 In some countries, a ministry or department of women’s affairs may also work in conjunction
with the ministry of finance and other government entities to ensure that gender-related
policies are given due weight. The legislature or legislative groups, such as a women’s
caucus, or nongovernmental organizations may also play an important role as pressure
groups for advancing gender-related policies.
21. Capacity building is key to effective gender budgeting systems. Many countries make
use of training and capacity development programs as a way of disseminating good practices on
gender budgeting to relevant staff, experts or consultative groups. Skills development, as well as
improvements in the production, collection, management and sharing of sex-disaggregated and
gender gap data are areas where governments have developed expertise.
THE STATUS OF GENDER BUDGETING IN G7 AND

ADVANCED ECONOMIES
22. This section summarizes efforts by G7 and other advanced countries to implement
policy objectives focused on achieving gender equality. It looks first at fiscal policy initiatives,
then PFM institutions, in line with the framework outlined in the previous section. Box 3 highlights
20
Some gender-related functions may also be subordinated to local governments, creating additional challenges.
In such cases, mechanisms need to be established to ensure that decisions are taken that reflect the interests of all
relevant ministries and departments within the executive branch and that accountability can be assigned and tracked.

key gender-responsive budgeting initiatives in G7 Countries. Outside the G7, many other countries,
including in Europe, have been implementing gender-related policy initiatives that are intertwined
with the reform of PFM institutions (for example, UNIFEM, 2010).
Box 3. Key Gender-Related Initiatives in G7 Countries

In Canada, gender equality is a shared responsibility of federal, provincial and territorial governments, with
mechanisms in place to promote coordination and engagement. At the federal level, since 1995 the
government has committed to conducting gender-based analysis of legislation, policies and programs -
which became a requirement for all Cabinet proposals in 2015. In Budget 2017, the Government introduced
its first Gender Statement, providing an assessment of budgetary measures from a gender perspective.
France issued an organic law on Gender Equality in 2014 integrating gender budgeting into policymaking,
requiring that gender implications be assessed in each new law and that quotas be set for women in senior
management positions in the civil service, politics, and the private sector. Since 2010, the annual Budget Law
has an annex on equality between women and men in fiscal policies and gender-disaggregated amounts
allocated in the budget.
The German federal government considers equality policy to be a mainstream task and therefore already
well integrated into budget-making. Since 2000, gender equality has been a guiding principle in the Joint
Rules of Procedure of the Federal Ministries. Implementation has been more evident at sub national level,
including most notably, Berlin.
In Italy various laws relate to gender equality both at local and national level and the national budget has
funded initiatives related to gender equality in maternal care, day care, incentives for women’s employment,
and fighting domestic violence. A 2016 legislative decree on reform of the State budget calls for introducing
gender budgeting on an experimental basis at the national level.
The Japanese government has been promoting gender equality through various legislative measures,
including the Basic Act for Gender Equality of 1999, and has recently adopted gender budgeting formally. Its
actions establish priority areas for gender equality including increasing women’s role in policy-making and
employment, improving work-life balance, relieving poverty, and supporting women’s education and health.
The UK has mainstreamed gender equality in fiscal policy in different ways. Key achievements include
bringing more women into employment and entrepreneurial activity and creating a more enabling
environment for women with children to work.
In the US, several recent legislative measures were intended to address violence against women and
promote more women in economic and technical leadership roles. The U.S. is one of seven countries that
has not ratified the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women (CEDAW). At the subnational level, San Francisco has a gender budgeting initiative focused on
identifying priorities of women in public service provision and identifying in public infrastructure, especially
for safe lighting.
Source: Beijing Reports, OECD, and IMF questionnaire.

Gender-oriented Fiscal Policy
23. All G7 countries have implemented a range of tax and expenditure policies aimed at
increasing female labor supply, including targeting low-income groups (Table 1):
 On the expenditure side, all the G7 countries have implemented various laws or regulations
designed to increase women’s workforce participation, provide enhanced support for child
or dependent care, and achieve equal pay for equal work. This is a broad-based policy issue,
identified as a challenge in all the countries. For instance, the Canada Child Benefit assists
families with the cost of child care through a tax-free, income tested benefit. In most
countries, including Germany (Laender), government support for dependent care and
childcare relies at least partly on subnational government. German reforms have also
specifically tried to integrate women as a target group into specific spending programs
(Germany, 2014).
 On the revenue side, as noted above, taxation based on the family rather than individuals can
create a disincentive for the second earner to work, as he/she is taxed at a higher marginal
rate. Most countries have tackled this problem by moving to individual income taxation, for
instance, in the United Kingdom (UK), Japan, Canada, and Italy. Some countries have
retained a system of joint taxation, but adapted it through tax credits, or deductions, or
other tax preferences for households with two earners, or by leaving an option for individual
taxation (e.g., the United States and Germany).21
 For low-income families, there are various tax reliefs, such as the earned income tax credit,
for example in the United States (US), or a combination of tax and transfers in the UK and
other G7 countries. In 2016, Canada amended its child care benefit regime with the new
Canada Child Benefit, income-tested to provide increased support to low and middle income
families (compared to previous benefit, which was universal). The UK, in 2015, increased
childcare support for low-income working parents by means of the tax allowance for
childcare. In the Netherlands, targeted relief is provided to secondary earners, with a more
focused impact on gender.
21
In Germany the option of individual taxation exists, but the constitution requires that the overall tax burden of a
household can never be larger than under separate taxation. Therefore, the incentive to use the individual tax option
is weak.

Table 1. Key Gender-Related Fiscal Policies Implemented by G7 Countries

Policy Measure Country Practices
1. Tax Policies
Individual income tax Canada, Italy, Japan, and UK
Tax relief for single or working parents Most or all G7
Targeted in-work tax credits or benefits France, Japan
2. Expenditure Policies
Gender-responsive public employment All G7
Quotas in managerial positions France, Germany
Public sector equal pay Canada, France, Germany-Laender, Italy
Work-life balance Canada, France, Italy, Japan
Women in low-income support France, Germany, Italy, Japan
Education, STEM, elimination of stereotypes All G7
Health prevention and age-related issues All G7
Child care support Canada, Japan, UK, Italy, Germany
Paid parental leave Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan
Gender-related social security reforms Canada, France, Italy, UK
Pensions linked to the number of children Germany
Programs to counter domestic violence All G7
Gender-responsive foreign aid and cooperation Canada, France, Japan
Sources: Beijing reports, OECD (2016), recent developments.
24. Second, in building human capital, G7 countries have generally achieved high levels of
education and health, but minority and indigenous groups do not always have access to these
services. Some initiatives target areas where women lag behind. In education, G7 countries have
developed programs to encourage more women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering,
Mathematics) fields. Examples of such programs include explicit support for women in their
education or child care, to prevent them from dropping out of demanding careers in science and
technology (Italy, Germany, Japan, and the US have paid explicit attention to women in STEM).22
Also, tackling stereotypes in education has been the focus of policies, for example in France. In
health, all G7 countries have adopted programs to ensure that health needs specific to women are
being met, especially related to pregnancy, the prevention of prevalent diseases, and aging.
25. Third, under social security reforms, several countries have recently adjusted public
old-age pension schemes to reflect gender issues. These issues include women’s more limited
work history, maternity leave, part-time work, lower wages while working, and other aspects of their
work history that affect their public pensions (Canada 2017; France, 2014; Italy, 2014; and the UK,
2014).
22
G7 leaders launched the Women’s Initiative in Developing STEM Careers (WINDS) at the G7 Ise-Shima Summit to
promote an active role of women in STEM fields, May 26–27, 2016.

26. Fourth, all G7 countries have implemented specific programs to counter domestic
violence, and budgetary resources have been increased. France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the
US have also taken a range of regulatory and administrative initiatives in this area.
27. Finally, the public sector is expected to serve as a role model in gender equality. For
instance, some countries are implementing quotas in decision-making bodies. In France, these
quotas affect both public and private sectors through regulation and penalties (France, 2014). Also,
some countries are focusing on ensuring equal pay in similar jobs, as in France and Germany. And
most G7 countries, most notably Canada, France, Italy and Japan, are seeking to strike a better work-
life balance in the public sector with measures to increase the flexibility of working conditions.
28. On external cooperation, all the G7 countries are involved in supporting developing
countries achieve their own gender equality objectives. This is most evident in such areas as
violence against women, and G7 participation in international conventions that aim to strengthen
efforts to ensure that women’s voices are heard in peace and security negotiations. G7 countries are
also active in ensuring that aid programs incorporate gender equality objectives in the areas of
education, health, and infrastructure, among others, and some countries have specifically allocated
resources from their aid budgets to gender-related objectives.
PFM Institutions Enabling Gender-Responsive Budgeting
29. While G7 countries have made effective use of a wide range of fiscal and non-fiscal
policies to reduce gender inequality, they have generally made less progress in developing
the PFM institutions which ensure that these policies are implemented effectively. To take
stock of current practices, the IMF carried out a survey (Appendix 1) of PFM institutions and
practices in the G7, together with three countries that are relatively strong performers in developing
a gender-informed approach to PFM (Austria, Spain, and Belgium). The information obtained was
complemented by other studies and sources of information—including recent OECD work (2016)—
that are referred to elsewhere in this paper. The results of the survey are summarized in Table 2 and
further details of country practices are shown in Appendix 2.

18
GENDER BUDGETING IN ADVANCED COUNTRIES

INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
Table 2. Survey of PFM Institutions in Advanced Countries

G7 Non G7
United United
Austria Belgium Spain
Canada France Germany Italy Japan States Kingdom
Gender related provisions in public finance and budget legal framework (Q.1)
Specific arrangements for coordinating policy decisions on gender related issues (Q.2)
Gender Budget Statement (Q.4)
Gender Impact Assessments(Q.5)
Budget circular and statements include instructions related to gender budgeting (Q.6)
Performance indicators with gender perspective (Q.7. A)
Publication of gender related performance indicators (Q.7.B)
Existence of fiscal data disaggregated by gender (Q.8.A)
Publication of fiscal data dissaggregated by gender (Q.8.B)
Budget classification according to gender perspective (Q.9)
Budget execution reports, annual financial statement include data on gender-related expenditure
and revenue (Q.10)
Parliamentary control (ex ante /ex post) (Q.11)
Annual audit of the budget covers gender related aspects (Q.12)
Note: The information has been mostly drawn from surveys prepared by the staff, but also from other information sources (see references).
Key: Green = full application of the PFM tool; Yellow = partial application; Pink = limited application; Blank = no information
.
Legal framework
30. Few advanced countries and none of the G7 countries have adopted a comprehensive
legal framework to support gender-responsive budgeting practices. In the absence of such a
framework, which provides a consistent and articulated basis to develop and prioritize gender
policies, most governments discuss gender-related policies within the normal budget process by
other means, and in an ad hoc fashion. This makes the focus on gender policies reliant on the
existence of a strong consensus among ministers, and commitment at the top political level.
 In Italy, provisions for gender budgeting were introduced in the Public Finance and
Accounting Law 196/2009, and the government is considering whether to adopt gender
budgeting in 2017 as part of the budget process.
 In some countries, progress in the implementation of gender budgeting at the national level
has not kept pace with regional developments. A number of regional governments in Italy,
for example, have passed laws to introduce pilot projects, or to integrate gender budgeting
as part of the standard process of budget preparation. In Germany, where the federal
government considers equality issues within the sphere of responsibility of each ministry,
some states—most notably, Berlin—have introduced gender budgeting initiatives.
 Among non-G7 countries, Austria has one of the most advanced gender-responsive
budgets, included in the Constitution (2009) and closely linked to the country’s performance
budgeting framework that was adopted in 2013. This framework mandates all ministries and
budget holders to include one gender-responsive objective in their performance budget.
 In Spain, since 2009, the annual Draft Budget Law is accompanied by a Gender Impact
Report; and all draft bills must include a gender impact assessment report, based on
instructions provided by the Ministry of Finance.
 Belgium’ s general principle of gender mainstreaming is based on a law, but this legislation
does not explicitly provide a framework for gender budgeting. Nonetheless, a number of
documents and procedures related to that law have been introduced to implement some
aspects of gender budgeting.
Gender budget statements
31. Only Canada, France, and Japan among the G7 countries publish a gender budget
statement. In France, since 2010, the annual budget law has contained an annex about the
contribution of fiscal policies to achieving equality between men and women, as well as gender-
disaggregated allocations in the budget. Japan publishes in June each year, before the beginning of
the budgetary process, proposals made by the Council for Gender Equality, which are designed to
influence the requests of line ministries for funding in the next year’s budget. In Canada, the budget
statement of 2017 included the first gender-based analysis as a stand-alone chapter, including an

overview of gender challenges in Canada today as well as an assessment of Budget 2017 measures
from a gender perspective.
32. Some advanced non-G7 countries publish gender budget statements. Australia
produces a Women’s Budget Statement and Spain a Gender Impact Report that are considered part
of the General State Budget. In Belgium, spending departments need to provide a justification of
any budgetary request that includes gender-related spending. Other examples include Austria,
Finland, Iceland, and Sweden.
Budget circulars
33. None of the G7 countries produces a budget circular that provide instructions to
spending ministries on how to implement principles of gender budgeting. Some countries,
however, have issued more generic guidelines which assist ministries in setting priorities and
preparing their budgets. For example, the Japanese Ministry of Finance issued guidelines for the
2017 budget that gave prominence to general social issues including certain gender considerations,
with the aim of setting in motion a process of discussion about how to structure the budget in
accordance with these instructions.
Most G7 countries undertake a gender impact assessment of new policy proposals, but the
approaches and methodologies used vary widely. Guidelines are often issued by organizations
outside the central budget authority. For example, it is relatively common that for such guidelines to
be prepared by an expert consultative group, or diffused through informal circulars, in parallel to the
annual budget law, as in Belgium. In Spain, inter-agency working groups are set-up to exchange
good practices in this regard.23 In Italy, a new methodology on gender budgeting is expected to be
developed in 2017.
Information systems and reporting
34. Among the G7 countries, Japan and France have made the most progress in
systematically collecting fiscal data disaggregated by gender, but do not publish these data in
the annual budget documentation. In Japan gender-disaggregated data are collected by the
Cabinet Office and published in their website every year. Information is also published in the White
Paper on Gender Equality, adopted by the cabinet and reported to the legislature annually.
 In Germany, an annual Gender Federal Performance Report is prepared by the Federal

Chancellery for discussion by the legislature. It reports on gender outcomes and assessing
the implementation of gender-oriented budget results. In addition, there is a dedicated
website that provides information on performance budgeting progress and results; a
23
In Spain the instructions provided by the Ministerial Order 114/2017 are of a more general nature and primarily
concern the direction of the information flows in assessing the gender impact rather than details on how the
methodology.

database of gender-related budget information; and a gender and diversity atlas that
identifies the regional distribution of gender-related indicators.
 In Spain, the collection of data on gender-related issues is the responsibility of the Institute
for Women and Equal Opportunities, and the Institute for Fiscal Studies. Other countries,
such as Norway and Sweden, have more generalized procedures for collecting statistical
information disaggregated by gender. In addition, several countries make use of surveys of
stakeholders to calibrate their perception of the impact of gender-related policies.
35. The incorporation of the gender perspective in the budget classification is a not a
widespread feature of the surveyed budget procedures in the G7 countries. The responses from
France and Spain noted one and two specific programs respectively linked to equality of
opportunities, as well as some explicit information in the gender impact reports about the gender
implications of some programs.
Performance budgeting
36. Only a few countries undertake performance-based budgeting related to gender.

Austria is perhaps the most advanced in this area, but, even then, it does not yet include an
overarching and systematic framework of gender-related indicators for all ministries (Box 4).
 In Japan, the Council for Gender Equality submits to the Prime Minister and the Council of
Ministers its assessment of the main programs and policies laid out in the 4th Basic Plan for
Gender Equality. Ministries are required to submit budget proposals that are consistent with
the achievement of medium-term performance targets set out in this Plan. The Council for
Gender Equality periodically monitors the fulfillment of those targets and publishes regular
progress reports.
 Italy’s legislation and practices also demonstrate an effort to highlight gender-related

objectives through program budgeting.
 The UK government reviews the impact of public expenditure programs on gender-related

and other inequalities within the framework of the biennial expenditure review.
 On the basis of the 2010 GPRA Modernization Act in the US, gender-related objectives have
been established for some agencies. Progress against these targets is monitored annually,
and some information is published.
 In France, when a gender impact assessment is performed, the line ministries concerned are
required to create their own performance indicators or use standard ones; one indicator
used by the Ministry of Education, for example, is the share of female participants in training
activities provided by that ministry.

Box 4. Austria: Gender-Oriented Budgeting

The budgetary principle of promoting gender equality was incorporated in the Austrian Constitution in 2009.
This change resulted in the development of a comprehensive gender-oriented budget and reporting
framework, which has been integrated in the government’s performance budgeting system. The Federal
Performance Management Office (FPMO) in the Federal Chancellery was established in 2010 to consult and
coordinate the implementation and operation of performance and gender-oriented budgeting.
 As of 2013, Ministries and High-Level Institutions have to define in their budget chapters up to five
gender-related outcome objectives. These outcomes are derived from gender analysis that identifies
challenges and problems to be solved, specific activities to implement the objectives, and quantitative
indicators that track progress. The FPMO reviews the draft objectives as part of its quality assurance
mandate.
 An Annual Federal Gender Performance Report, prepared by the FPMO for Parliament, provides
information on the implementation of gender-related objectives and outputs based on the results of the
Ministries’ annual ex post evaluation
 Departments and agencies must include objectives that foster gender equality in their Performance
Contracts with the Ministries.
 New or amended laws and regulations, and major investment or procurement contracts, must include a
mandatory ex-ante impact assessment on gender equality. Quantitative and qualitative thresholds
ensure the proportionality of these efforts in relation to the respective law or regulation. These
assessments are published and may be discussed by the Parliament. The Annual Report on Impact
Assessment includes an ex post assessment of the gender impact of government policies, and is
submitted to Parliament in May.
Parliament approves appropriations as well as performance and gender-related objectives, outputs, and
indicators. During its discussions of the budget, the Parliament reviews gender-related objectives, reports
from the Chancellery, and gender impact assessments. A special parliamentary committee oversees gender
equality issues.
Gender equality is a cross-cutting policy field, and various mechanisms have been established to coordinate
the dialog among ministries and agencies, and subnational governments. In addition to the FPMO inter-
ministerial coordination for gender related performance budgeting, there is an inter-ministerial working
group on Gender Mainstreaming (IMAG GMB), headed by the Ministry of Health and Women’ s Affairs,
where discussions and common approaches are analyzed and defined.
Other developments include the establishment of a dedicated website (www.wirkungsmonitoring.gv.at) on

performance budgeting, with data on gender equality; a map of gender-related budget information; a
gender and diversity atlas; and a gender budgeting blog that provides information on recent developments,
and national and international best practices.
Overall, increased transparency, awareness, and accountability for gender equality issues and objectives, and
a richer discussion on gender equality and gender budgeting has been achieved.
Source: Austrian authorities and IMF staff.

Gender impact assessments
37. Three G7 countries, Canada, France and the UK, produce gender impact assessments
on a systematic basis, and take this information into account when making decisions on
budgetary resource allocation. In Canada, the federal government has been committed to using
gender-based analysis in the development of policies, programs and legislation since 1995. This was
made mandatory for all proposals to Cabinet in 2015. In the UK, the 2010 Equality Act requires all
ministries to assess the gender impact of their tax and expenditure policies before submitting
proposals to the Council of Ministers. In France, all ministries are subject to a similar obligation to
prepare an assessment of the gender impact of new policy proposals. In the US, gender impact
assessments are made occasionally, depending on the nature of the proposals.
38. Similar approaches are taken in non-G7 countries. In New Zealand, for example, policy
proposals submitted to the Cabinet Social Development Committee are required to include a
gender impact statement. In Ireland, all government memoranda on new policy initiatives must
include a statement about the likely outcomes in terms of gender and, when needed, propose
actions to avoid negative effects.
Budget execution, monitoring, and control
39. In the G7 countries, reports on budget execution produced during the fiscal year, or
at the end of year, do not usually contain information on gender-related expenditures or tax
policies. The only exception is Japan, where these data are collected by the cabinet office and
published on their website on an annual basis.
40. The involvement of the legislature/parliament in the discussion of the impact of

budgetary and other fiscal decisions related to gender quality is more common. This is the case
particularly in the UK, the US, and France and, outside the G7, in Austria and Spain. In France, for
example, the Minister for Women Rights appears before the legislature every year when presenting
the government’s program on gender equality. In most of the countries surveyed, reports on the
gender impact of the budget are discussed in national legislatures. In Italy, the Parliamentary Budget
Office published recently a report on gender budgeting practices in the country. In Canada, both the
House of Commons Standing Committee and the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights.
discuss the implementation of gender-based analysis by the Federal Government.
41. Finally, G7 countries seem to lag in the area of audit. Except for the Canadian Auditor
General, few reports concerning gender budgeting analysis and/or the ex post impact of budget or
tax policy decisions on gender equality have been published by national audit offices in the last
three years.
Coordination of decision-making
42. Of the G7 countries, only Japan has put formal institutional mechanisms in place to
coordinate discussions within the government on gender-related fiscal policies, or budget

allocations. The coordination is articulated through the Council for Gender Equality, which is
chaired by the Chief Cabinet Secretary and comprises 12 Ministers and 12 other members that
include CEOs of leading Japanese companies, leaders of local governments, and academics. The
Council has the authority to coordinate within the government decisions on all gender-related
issues. In France, the Ministry for Women Right plays a coordination role and, since 2013, a High
Council for gender equality also contributes to the evaluation of relevant policy issues.
POLICY IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

43. Well-structured fiscal policies and sound public financial management have the
potential to contribute to achieving gender equality.
 The G7 countries have achieved a relatively high degree of gender equality but there remain
significant gaps, especially with regard to key labor market indicators and unpaid work.
Fiscal policy can contribute to achieving unmet goals of equality.
 Gender-responsive approaches to PFM in the G7 countries have not yet become embedded
within the normal annual routines of budgeting and policy-making, although some useful
analytical tools related to gender have been developed and applied.
 Ex ante and ex post gender impact analysis (and related tools) are critical to assess that
resources are adequately allocated and used to achieve the intended goals. There should be
a healthy discussion, that includes both government ministries, parliament, and the civil
society to agree on the best approaches.
 The challenges of effective gender budgeting are in some ways a microcosm of the
challenges of modern budgeting, e.g., the need for clear, multi-dimensional budgetary
impact analysis, multi-annual framework, audit and performance evaluation mechanisms (for
example, spending reviews) that feed directly into the policy-making and budget cycle but
with gender-related goals in mind.
44. Going forward, G7 countries can explore further policy initiatives that have served
other advanced countries well in furthering their objectives for gender equality. Policy
instruments should be selected to address the main gender gaps in each country and take account
of challenges and trade-offs in implementation, as well as fiscal sustainability implications. Fiscal
policy instruments to achieve gender-related objectives that can be adopted more systematically,
include:
 Tax and subsidy incentives that increase women’s participation in the labor market, including
child and dependent care policies; fiscal incentives that strike a better balance on specific
women’s and men’s needs in education and eliminate stereotypes; and broad-based taxes,
such as the personal income tax, that avoid an overly high effective rate of taxation of
secondary workers to avoid disincentives for second workers in families.

 Expenditure policies and programs such as public health programs aimed at meeting
gender-specific needs; the restructuring of low-income assistance programs to ensure that
specific needs of women and women-headed families are met, and are treated equitably
with two-parent families; and social insurance programs, in particular pensions, that are
designed to take into account situations of limited work histories, such as maternity or
paternity-related absences or part-time contributions.
 Governments should also continue implementing structural reforms that are gender-
oriented, for example to facilitate female employment when this is hampered by regulations
or rigidities in the labor market that limit women’ s access to part-time jobs, create glass
ceilings, or lessen the internal flexibility of work schedules. They could also ensure that active
labor policies (including retraining or upskilling facilities) are equally available to women and
men.
45. On the institutional side, G7 countries could explore integrating a gender-oriented

approach throughout their budget cycle:
 Performance-based budgeting has a particularly important role to play from a gender

perspective, with a focus on: (i) identification of good quality and realistic objectives and
the establishment of linkages between gender objectives and budget resources;
(ii) comprehensive reporting of gender-related performance indicators in order to monitor
progress and identify gaps; (iii) the generation of sex-disaggregated and gender gap data;
and (iv) skills development, including assistance to line ministries in developing performance
monitoring systems and indicators.
 Simply gathering data on the objectives and impact of gender-related policies could go a
long way in improving the effectiveness of gender-responsive interventions. This would
require governments to have a stronger focus on integrating the reporting of gender-
related data within their budget classifications and financial management information
systems, and including gender-specific information in their budget documents. The use of
ex post evaluation and gender audit also remains under-developed in G7 countries.
 Ministries of finance could play a stronger leadership role in institutionalizing gender within
the conceptual and decision-making framework of budgeting and PFM. The mechanisms of
coordination among ministries regarding the design and implementation of gender-related
budgetary policies would also benefit from improvement.

Appendix I. Questionnaire Used to Assess Gender-

Responsiveness of PFM Systems in G7 Countries
The IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department (FAD) is preparing a paper on “Gender Budgeting Initiatives in
Advanced Countries” as a contribution to a G7 initiative on Equality requested by the Italian
Presidency. As part of this exercise FAD has prepared a short questionnaire to understand gender
budgeting policies and practices in the G7 and other advanced countries.
A widely recognized definition of “gender budgeting” is: “Integrating a clear gender perspective
within the overall context of the budgetary process through the use of special processes and
analytical tools, with a view to promoting gender-responsive policies” (OECD, 2016). Respondents to
this questionnaire, however, may want to use an alternative definition that is used in their countries.
Institutional framework
1. Does the legal framework for public finance and budgeting include specific provisions related to
gender issues or gender budgeting? Where can these provisions be found in the Constitution, an
organic law, a Public Finance Law, or other laws and regulations?
2. Are there specific arrangements for coordinating discussions within the government on gender
related issues, in particular decisions related to expenditure programs or tax policy?
3. Who is responsible for coordinating these decisions (e.g., a Ministry or Agency for Gender, an
Inter-Ministerial Committee on Gender, the Prime Minister’s Office, and/or the Ministry of Finance)?
4. Is there a Gender Budget Statement which has been adopted by the government and made
public?
Budget preparation
5. Does the government occasionally/systematically carry out a gender impact assessment (or a
gender incidence analysis) of new government policy initiatives, equivalent to an economic or
financial impact assessment, before they are approved by the government? Which government
ministries/agencies are responsible for carrying out this work?
6. Does the budget circular issued by the Ministry of Finance at the beginning of the budget cycle
each year, or other budget guidelines issued by the Ministry, include details or instructions on the
application of gender budgeting (e.g., how to calculate the gender impact of new spending
proposals or tax policies)?
7. Does the government have in place a framework for managing and monitoring the performance
of ministries and agencies in delivering public services (i.e., program/performance budgeting)? Does
this framework include specific performance targets or indicators relating to gender equality? Are
these data published?

8. Does the government systematically collect fiscal data that are disaggregated by gender? Are
these data published, e.g., in the annual budget documentation? Please provide examples.
9. Does the budget classification or chart of accounts incorporate a gender perspective? Is there a
program or sub-program within this classification that specifically relates to gender equality?
Budget execution, monitoring, and control
10. Do budget execution reports issued by the government or its annual financial statements
include information on gender-related expenditures or tax policies?
11. Has the legislature/parliament conducted any hearings, or published any reports in the last
three years that discuss the impact of the budget or tax policy decisions on gender equality?
12. Has the national audit office published any reports in the last three years that analyze the
ex post impact of budget or tax policy decisions on gender equality?
Other
13. Please indicate any existing gender budgeting policies or practices of the central government or
sub-national governments that are not mentioned in the above questionnaire.
14. Please list any relevant documents or websites where the information requested above is
available.

Appendix II. Gender Budgeting in G7 and Other Selected

Countries1
Canada
Gender equality in Canada is a shared responsibility of the federal, provincial, and territorial
governments. Education, social services, health care, and the administration of justice are under the
primary jurisdiction of the provinces and territories, and each has appointed a minister responsible
for the Status of Women. There is a formal mechanism for gender-focused collaboration between
the federal, provincial and territorial governments. The Government of Canada created an agency
called the Status of Women Canada (SWC) in 1976 with the mandate to coordinate policy with
respect to the status of women. Emerging from the 1995 Beijing Declaration, the federal
government is committed to conduct gender-based analysis of legislation, policies, and programs of
the government to assess the potential impacts on women and men. This was later expanded to
“GBA +” to include other intersecting identity factors (e.g., ethnicity, income, sexual orientation).
Status of Women Canada provides government-wide leadership and expertise for all departments
and agencies, which are ultimately responsible for implementing GBA+. The Departmental Action
Plan on Gender-Based Analysis in 2009 provides a blueprint for increasing accountability for the
application of this approach across the federal government. The Status of Women Canada is leading
the implementation and building capacity. Gender Focal Points in departments and agencies of the
federal government facilitate network building.
Canada’s most recent “Beijing” report cites major achievements in the past 20 years in immigration
policy, the enhancement of employment equity legislation, and improvements in the overall
circumstances of women in Canada. Challenges remain in the gender pay gap, occupational
segregation, violence against women and girls, and the participation of women in key leadership
positions in business. Of particular concern are Aboriginal women, immigrant women, senior
women, and women with disabilities who remain more vulnerable to poverty (Canada, 2014, p. 5).
The unpaid work gap remains a concern and women spend double the number of hour men do
caring for children (Canada, 2014, p. 9).
Other programs support work-family balance (Canada, 2014, p. 9). Canada also has programs to
help support development of women’s labor market skills and employment (Canada, 2014, p. 11).
Specific programs target the Aboriginal, elderly, youth, and immigrant populations (Canada, 2014,
pp. 12–13). Other programs work with women in skilled trades and in entrepreneurship (Canada,
2014, p. 14). Canada has also undertaken various initiatives to combat violence against women and
human trafficking through strengthening the criminal code and spending on administrative and
other measures to stop perpetrators and to support victims. Statistics Canada produces gender-
based analysis and a statistical compendium entitled Women in Canada every five years, providing a
comprehensive portrait of the population.
1
Sources: OECD (2016), Beijing Reports, and IMF Questionnaire.

Recently, the Government announced key measures to address gender-related challenges such as
labor market participation, poverty and violence. For instance, since 2016, the new, income-tested,
Canada Child Benefit provides increased support to low and middle income families, many of which
are single-parent households headed by women. Budget 2017 announced long-term funding
towards more accessible and affordable early learning and childcare, and proposed the expansion of
parental Employment Insurance benefits to provide further flexibilities for families. Budget 2017 also
included funding for a federal strategy to address gender-based violence.
A gender budgeting initiative has not yet been formally adopted in any jurisdiction. However, since
2017, the budget is accompanied by a stand-alone document (Gender Budget Statement) which
provides an overview of gender challenges and the impact of budgetary policies from a gender
perspective. Until 2016 an initiative, known as the Alternative Federal Budget, coordinated by the
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, publishes an annual report assessing budget policies,
including one chapter on gender equality. Civil society organizations have also played an active role
in promoting gender budgeting in Canada.
France
The 2014 Law on Gender Equality integrates gender equality into every policy and ministry. Gender
mainstreaming is required in the assessment of each new law. The 2014 law also establishes quotas
for women in senior management positions in the civil service, politics, and the private sector. Under
this law, France has also adopted policies to promote gender equality in work and family life, and
employment, as well as policies to address gender-based violence, and gender stereotypes. Gender
equality is considered one of several multi-sectoral policies. Since 2013, the High Council for
Equality between Women and Men, an independent consultative body monitors the political issues
linked to parity, violence, stereotyping, rights in the international context, and health issues. Under
its mandate, it selects laws to review and evaluate for gender equality and to provide an assessment
of the differential impact by gender, providing recommendations to the legislature, monitoring
progress, and providing relevant expertise.
France also has not formally adopted gender budgeting, but implements some of its tools.2
Regarding the budget process, since 2010, the annual Budget Law has included an annex on
equality between women and men assessing fiscal policies and the budget from a gender-
disaggregated perspective. The Gender Budget Statement covers all governmental agencies,
summarizes the executive’ s roadmap to gender equality, and contains some performance
indicators.
Germany
In the federal government, the realization of equal rights is a mainstream task (Germany, Federal
Republic of, 2014, p. 6). Since 2000, gender equality has been a guiding principle in the Joint Rules
of Procedure of the Federal Ministries. Funds for the promotion of gender equality and women’s
empowerment are found in nearly all of the federal government’s budget items. Germany has
2
This discussion is based on OECD (2016) and France (2014)

identified many of the same challenges as Canada in terms of lessening the dependent care burdens
of women, increasing women in STEM fields, improving women’s ability to reconcile training and
careers with family life, and increasing the number of women in management positions. Germany
has also taken measures to strengthen its services for support of women afflicted by domestic
violence and to combat human trafficking. Legislation is supporting enhanced child care and
parental leave as well as equal pay for women. Transparency legislation is intended to ensure that
large companies report on pay and reduce gender pay gaps. Various services support women’s
entrepreneurialism. In the Laender, all the governments have gender equality policy units in their
departments and meet to exchange views. The Laender have enacted corresponding Gender
Equality Acts and regulations.
Germany has not adopted gender budgeting at the federal level, though Berlin and a number of
states (or Laender) have launched such initiatives.3
Italy
Since 1995, Italy’s federal government has allocated budgetary and European Union resources for
equal opportunity policies and used its national budgets to fund initiatives related to maternal care,
nurseries, kindergartens, and other services. The 2007 Budget Law created a fund for family policies
to support motherhood and fatherhood and protection of female immigrants (Italy, 2014, p. 8). A
2008 measure introduced incentives to promote female employment through tax breaks and set up
a fund for fighting violence against women and a fund to promote gender statistics (Italy, 2014, p.
8). Another fund was set up to promote women’s entrepreneurship. Further action is being taken in
encouraging girls in STEM fields and addressing continuing gaps in female employment and
gender-based violence, which remains a significant problem in Italy. Women also continue to have
one of the lowest employment rates in Europe and women are still highly segregated occupationally
(Italy, 2014, p. 11). Law 2011/214 contains measures to reform pensions and raise women’s
retirement age and create a fund for women.
Although Italy does not have a gender budgeting initiative, the prospects for adopting gender
budgeting at the national level are improving. Methodological guidelines to apply gender analysis
to the results of the financial year are expected to be defined over 2017. On the basis of its results,
gender budgeting could be made part of the General State Budget Framework.
Since 2000, Italy has been experimenting with gender budgeting at the local and regional levels. A
network of provinces and municipalities exists for spreading good practices, particularly with regard
to promoting a gender perspective in the analysis of the budget and in defining gender-sensitive
expenditure indicators (Italy, 2014, p. 12).
3
This discussion draws on Germany, Federal Republic of (2014) and Quinn (2016), who discussed Berlin’s initiative in
more detail.

Japan
The Japanese government has been promoting gender equality through the 1999 Basic Act for
Gender Equality and through the establishment of the Council for Gender Equality.4 One of the top
priorities of the Abe administration is to create a society where all women can express their
individuality and fully exercise their abilities. The administration has implemented various initiatives
to encourage women’s active participation in a wide range of fields. For example, the 4th Basic Plan
for Gender Equality, adopted in 2015, emphasizes women’s active participation in all aspects5 of
society through increasing the recruitment and the promotion of women in the public and private
sectors and transforming labor practices including long working hours. The government called for
creating specific subsidies and tax incentives to encourage businesses to hire more women and to
improve childcare leave benefits. In addition, the 2016 Act on the Promotion of Women’s
Participation and Advancement in the Workplace, requires employers to produce an action plan for
promoting female employment. In response to this Act, the Japanese government introduced a new
public procurement measure, which certifies employers who perform well on female employment.
The Act also requires local governments to develop a comprehensive plan for promoting female
employment.
In addition, based on the Prevention of Spousal Violence and the Protection of Victims Act, the
Japanese government promotes measures for preventing domestic violence and protecting victims
in coordination with the relevant ministries.
In 2015, Japan adopted a gender budgeting approach for the central government to address gender
inequalities and to promote transparency. Under the new approach, a gender perspective is
considered for resource allocation in line ministries. This approach, though lacking a formal legal
basis, has been supported at the top political levels. Gender budgeting procedures include a
comprehensive coordination mechanism, centered on the Council for Gender Equality. This body
provides general guidance to the line ministries at the beginning of the budgetary cycle and
afterwards coordinates the budgetary discussions on gender-related issues. The 4th Basic Plan for
Gender Equality also provides a framework for monitoring the performance of gender-related
programs.
The United Kingdom
The UK government mainstreams gender equality in various ways.6 Since 1997, the government has
appointed a Minister for Women and Equalities who sits in the Cabinet. Key achievements in recent
decades include bringing more women into employment and into entrepreneurship and creating an
4
This discussion is based on Japan (2014), Chakraborty (2016), and OECD (2016).
5
The Basic Plan sets out 12 key fields, with performance targets to be achieved by 2020, and calls for the use of
gender-disaggregated data to assess progress. These fields include increasing women’s participation in policy-
making and employment, improving work-life balance, promotion of gender equality in rural areas, gender equality
in science and technology including active participation by women in STEM fields, supporting women’s lifelong
health, elimination of all forms of violence against women, support for low income women, gender-related tax and
social security reforms, and gender-responsive foreign aid and cooperation.
6 This discussion in based on United Kingdom (2014), OECD (2016), and Quinn (2016).

environment where employees can work flexibly and share parental leave with their partners. In a
recent European Commission report on “Gender Equality in the Workforce: Reconciling Work,
Private and Family Life in Europe,” the UK was acknowledged to have met the Barcelona targets on
childcare and was ranked first on parents’ ability to work flexibly (United Kingdom, 2014, p. 5). In
April 2017, legislation is being introduced requiring employers with more than 250 employees, in
both the public and private sector, to publish their gender pay gap. In addition, equal pay audits are
required for organizations losing equal pay claims. The UK Government has also placed great
emphasis on increasing the number of women in the boards of FTSE companies in recent years, and
the percentage of female directors in FTSE 350 companies is now higher than ever.
In 2016, the government published a four-year strategy to end violence against women and girls,
including sexual harassment.
To support working families with their childcare costs, the government is introducing Tax-Free
Childcare from April 2017. The scheme will provide up to £2000 childcare support per child under
the age of 12, per year (or up to £4000 for disabled children under 17). It has also reformed the state
pension through a number of measures (United Kingdom, 2014, pp. 13–14). These measures include
reducing the number of qualifying years, introducing a care taker’s credit to build up entitlement to
a full pension, and introducing a single-tier pension for new retirees after April 2016, bringing
forward the point at which women will receive an equivalent state pension to men (to the early
2040s instead of the early 2050s). Additional reforms will support social care for elderly people,
which predominantly benefits women.
The United Kingdom does not have a gender budgeting initiative. Nevertheless, some basic
elements are already in place, such as the public sector equality duty established by the 2010
Equality Act. This legislation requires public bodies to have due regard to the need to eliminate
discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations between different groups.
There is also a dedicated Parliamentary Committee, the Women and Equalities Select Committee,
which scrutinizes the work of government in this area and provides concrete recommendations on
policy work related to equality and discrimination.
The United States
Recent legislation includes measures for women’s health, combating violence against women and
human trafficking, promoting women’s political and economic leadership, and attracting more
women and girls to STEM fields. Some policies have a direct relationship to gender equality, such as
those related to violence against women or equal pay for equal work, paid leave initiatives, and
support to women-owned businesses while others are indirect, such as policies regarding part-time
workers or family leave benefits, affordable health care, and high quality college education.
Nonetheless, there remains a gap in labor force participation and in pay. Paid leave availability lags
many advanced nations. Women exceed men in college completion but are underrepresented in
STEM fields. The U.S. is one of seven countries that has not ratified the CEDAW.

The United States does not have a federal gender budgeting initiative, though there are a few at the
subnational level, including most notably in San Francisco. However, part of the informational basis
to set up this mechanism would be available, since the GPRA 2010 Modernization Act requires the
federal agencies to report annually on progress in meeting their strategic targets; to that end, a
number of useful indicators have been developed. On some occasions, these goals refer gender
policies, whereby there is an indicative set of data in the most relevant areas. Apart from this fact,
the Senate has been active in discussing topics connected with the budgetary dimension of gender
policies.
Non-G7 advanced countries
Australia was the pioneer in adopting gender budgeting in 1984 (Sharp, 2016; Chakraborty, 2016).
In its first phase, Australia introduced the idea of an annual Women’s Budget Statement, which
identified fiscal actions necessary for gender equality at the federal level, and then extended this
idea to fiscal policies at the states and territories as well. It relied on categorizing public
expenditures into those specifically targeting women, those targeting women’s civil service
employment, and then remaining expenditures. It was innovative in establishing a baseline in
assessing the government’s commitment to gender equality through its budget. Some achievements
in the early years were increased commitments to low-income families and child care for working
women. Australia’s formal commitment to gender budgeting waned over time and it no longer
considers itself a country using gender budgeting, though the approach has contributed to the
government’s ability to analyze fiscal policies from a gender-differentiated basis and to use gender-
disaggregated data.
Civil society has filled some of the gap. A nongovernmental organization, the National Foundation
of Australian Women has recently assessed federal budget measures from a gender lens,
highlighting continued concerns about social safety nets for low-income families and the elderly,
domestic violence, and housing affordability for female-headed households, among other issues
(Sharp, 2016).
Austria introduced gender budgeting in the context of public management reform in 2013, which
put in place a framework for performance budgeting (Quinn, 2016; OECD, 2016).7 Setting the legal
foundations for this initiative, in 2009, changes to Austria’s Constitution required gender budgeting
at all levels of government. Currently, the gender budgeting initiative is focused on addressing
perceived gender inequalities and requires that every line ministry in the federal government set at
least one gender-related objective out of a maximum of five outcome objectives, which are then
related to specific tasks. Austria has established a comprehensive framework for integrating gender
perspectives into budgeting using a gender needs assessment, baseline analysis, ex ante and ex post
gender impact assessments, gender-disaggregated incidence analysis, and so on. The central
budget authority has developed guidelines for applying gender budgeting, complemented by an
annual budget circular with details and instructions. Staff exchanges information and receives
7
In 2001 an Inter-Ministerial Working Group on Gender Mainstreaming/Gender Budgeting was setup and started to
define measures and actions on gender budgeting.

training; and some gender-disaggregated data are available. The budget reforms have initiated
substantial organizational and cultural changes, whose impacts will take time, thus Austria does not
yet report significant policy results.
One outgrowth of the focus on gender, however, is the recent reform of the income tax to reduce
the higher effective tax rate on secondary earners, which is designed to encourage more women’s
labor force participation and more full-time work, which should work to reduce the gender pay gap
(Quinn, 2016).
Similarly, Belgium has adopted a wide legal framework for gender budgeting (Quinn, 2016; OECD,
2016), which is supported by administrative practice and other legislation on gender equality. The
law on gender mainstreaming asks the government to integrate a gender perspective into the
preparations of the budget. On that basis, every year the annual circular letter for the budget
drafting contains a section on gender issues and thus provides some guidance on the application of
gender considerations. Like Austria, gender budgeting in Belgium applies to all levels of government
and is being implemented in a context of moving toward performance budgeting in government,
although no substantial progress has been made in using performance indicators and targets
related to gender dimensions. Ministries and agencies of government are required to identify a
gender equality objective in important fiscal policies. However, it is still unclear what substantively
has been achieved with this initiative (Quinn, 2016).
Similarly, Finland has a basis for gender budgeting in the Budget Circular and other PFM practices.
It is intended to promote gender equality and transparency (OECD, 2016). Line ministries apply a
gender perspective to allocating resources and setting performance targets.
Iceland adopted gender budgeting through a gender equality law in 2008 and organic budget law
in 2015 (OECD, 2016). It applies at the central and some municipal levels. It is intended to address
perceived inequality through improved policy and administration. Areas include distribution of
agricultural subsidies, waiting times for medical exams, distribution of paid and unpaid work, gender
pay gap and so on. Methodologies include integration into performance setting and other ex ante
and ex post gender impact assessments. Agencies exchange best practices with each other and
nongovernmental entities. Time use surveys supplement other gender disaggregated data. Some
sector specific achievements include reforms to the income tax and other reforms to strengthen
employment and financial independence of women. It is also applied to the budget for development
cooperation and the share focused on gender equality and women’s empowerment increased.
Korea has a substantive gender budgeting initiative, which applies to all levels of government
(Chakraborty, 2016). The National Finance Act, legislated in 2006, requires submission of gender
budgets and gender balance reports from the 2010 fiscal year onward. The Act requires the
government to draw up gender budget statements to analyse the impact of the budget on women
and men, encompassing both spending and revenues. The government is required to produce a
gender balance sheet, which assesses whether the budget benefits women and men equally and
remedies gender discrimination (Chakraborty, 2016). The government set up Women’s Focal Points
in key ministries of government, including Justice, Labor, Health and Welfare, Agriculture and

Forestry, Education and Human Resources, and Government and Home Affairs. The Korean
Women’s Development Institute (KWDI), a policy think tank, has initiated research and methodology
on gender budgeting. The main objective of the KWDI is to provide a framework in which gender
can be integrated in the medium-term expenditure framework, program budgeting formats, and
performance budgeting. Substantive accomplishments include improving infrastructure for women
and also finding ways to reduce women’s unpaid work burdens in the home to facilitate their
greater work force participation.
In Spain, the gender-related policy debate at national and regional level has focused on areas such
as health, education, avoiding stereotypes (e.g., in education, the armed forces, and the media),
improving the work-life balance, the wage gap, and the representation of women in decision-
making bodies in government and business. In relation to fiscal policy, the gender perspective has
been an important element in formulating policies to expand labor supply, and to reduce income
inequalities through individual income taxation and family-based tax reliefs. Recent reforms in social
security and pensions provide families with credit for parental leave and motherhood. The
government has increased the budget to eradicate domestic violence and sexual exploitation. The
legal framework—in particular Organic Law 3/2007 on the Effective Equality of Men and Women—
covers some important gender-related aspects. Requirements include that the government must
prepare a gender budget statement, and a gender impact assessment for new policy proposals,
together with an assessment of the policy’s economic and budgetary impact. In the Parliament, both
the Congress and the Senate have established a Commission on Equality. Finally, the regions and
local governments have their own gender-related policy initiatives and budgets. Andalusia, for
example, adopted the G+ Program in 2007 to identify the fiscal policies with the greatest impact on
improving gender equality, and has introduced gender audits to assess the implementation of this
program.
Sweden has introduced recently to address areas of policy including education, the labor market,
and positions in management and to strengthen economic growth and achieve social progress
(OECD, 2016). Sweden’s budget document includes information on budgetary impacts and analysis
of distributional issues accompanies the fiscal bill.

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April 19, 2017 GENDER BUDGETING IN G7 COUNTRIES

The main policy implications and conclusions of the paper include:

Approved By Supervised by Sanjeev Gupta and prepared by a Fiscal Affairs

TRENDS IN GENDER EQUALITY IN G7 AND ADVANCED COUNTRIES _________________________ 5

GENDER-RESPONSIVE BUDGETING: FISCAL POLICIES AND PFM PRACTICES _________________ 7

THE STATUS OF GENDER BUDGETING IN G7 AND ADVANCED ECONOMIES _______________ 13

POLICY IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS _________________________________________________ 24

2 INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND 3

5. This paper uses a broad definition of gender-responsive budgeting to support the

4 INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

TRENDS IN GENDER EQUALITY IN G7 AND ADVANCED

Figure 1. G7 Countries: Composite Indexes of Gender Equality

Source: Stotsky et al. (2016) and staff calculations

INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND 5

Figure 2. G7 Countries: Achievements and Challenges in Gender Equality

and the main burden of unpaid work is still on

Source: OECD (2016) and staff calculations. “Non G7

6 INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

GENDER-RESPONSIVE BUDGETING: FISCAL POLICIES

Gender-responsive fiscal policies

 In practice, the proportion of public expenditure dedicated to explicit gender equality

12. Looking at advanced countries implementing gender-responsive budgets or aiming to

INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND 7

dependency ratios. In particular:

 Assistance to low-income families. Various policies specifically target low-income families,

8 INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

PFM institutions and practices

14. PFM institutions play an enabling role in operationalizing gender-responsive fiscal

Figure 3. Stages of the Budget Process

Source: IMF Staff.

INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND 9

Legislation and guidelines on gender responsive budgeting

 A framework of rules and procedures for promoting gender-responsive budgeting may be

 Gender budget statements provide a strategic tool to implement gender-responsive policies

Fiscal reports and budget documentation

10 INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

Box 1. Gender Budget Statements

Performance-related budgeting frameworks

17. Performance-related budgeting frameworks are an important tool for promoting

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Gender impact assessments and related tools18

Accountability and audit

Box 2. Approaches to Gender Audit

Source: IMF and Caribbean Technical Assistance Center (CARTAC) staff.

12 INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

Organizational responsibilities for implementing gender budgeting

20. The coordination of decision-making within government on gender budgeting is often

 Some countries have established a gender-related ministry of women to facilitate the

THE STATUS OF GENDER BUDGETING IN G7 AND

INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND 13

Box 3. Key Gender-Related Initiatives in G7 Countries

Source: Beijing Reports, OECD, and IMF questionnaire.

14 INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

Gender-oriented Fiscal Policy

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Table 1. Key Gender-Related Fiscal Policies Implemented by G7 Countries

16 INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

PFM Institutions Enabling Gender-Responsive Budgeting

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