Advocacy Brief
Jan 2, 2024by Diksha Arora
The role of macroeconomic policy in gender outcomes in labor markets in the Global South
The climate crisis is a direct outcome of the current dominant neoliberal economic system, which relies on extractivism in many forms.
This brief illustrates structural barriers to women’s employment, starting with a discussion of gender division of care work as both a supply- and demand-side constraint. It shines a light on macroeconomic structural constraints and policies that affect demand for labor and workers’ bargaining power, and how these interact with gender segregation and stereotypes to create less favorable outcomes for women in the labor market. The brief examines the effects of macroeconomic policies including trade liberalization, monetary policy including interest rates and low-inflation bias, and fiscal policy including the role of austerity measures. It also outlines potential gender impacts of climate change adaptation strategies, which are increasingly becoming a part of national development plans. Blending micro- and macro-level analysis, the brief concludes with policy recommendations towards a more gender aware and equitable macroeconomic policy environment.
The context for this brief is the commitment of feminist movements who are part of the Feminist Action Nexus for Economic and Climate Justice (“Action Nexus”) to develop more resources and materials for popular education and legal advocacy that advance a comprehensive feminist agenda. This feminist agenda is not a separate or new initiative, but a well-articulated one that draws on the work of feminist movements over generations. Our 2021 Blueprint for Feminist Economic Justice, a central piece that anchors the Action Nexus, acknowledges how our work mutually reinforces and reaffirms feminist agendas of over five decades and connects movements—including, but not limited to, trade justice, debt justice, and a Feminist Decolonial Global Green New Deal.
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