Gender Impact
As the credit crisis deepens, poor social groups around the world will face shrinking incomes and worsening hunger issues. Women are disproportionately poorer than men and are also disproportionately responsible for managing household consumption and caregiving. Therefore, worsening conditions due to the crisis mean that the living situations of many women and their children will become dire. There are several areas in need of exploration regarding the impact of the financial crisis on women and the poor:
- Trade and employment: impact of the financial crisis on the real economies; which sectors may be most affected in various countries and whether these sectors have a larger share of women workers - such as export oriented sectors; - Consequential increase in unemployment: the impact of increasing rate of unemployment/underemployment on both women/men and the households' coping mechanisms;
- Decline of GDP: Impact on the overall disposable income, in particular, of the working poor - gender differentiated impacts on income poverty; - Migration: the impact of remittances of migrant workers given the on-going feminization of overseas migration, but also the impact on sending countries - both at the household level and GDP; - Fiscal policy: the impact of downturn on the government budget, which will reduce the fiscal space of government to be able to provide for both an economic stimulus package, and social support to help those who go out of job and become poorer in the process - gender differentiated impacts. In particular on the following: impact of reduced taxes collections/income for public expenditures, (for example impact of reduced food and fuel subsidies, if provided before); unemployment insurance, if non-existent or limited; active labour market measures: for instance, targeted training and public employment schemes, can we advocate the government to create jobs not only male oriented sectors (such as construction and infrastructure sector), but also in sectors where women can also work, such as care economy - services, commerce, etc.);
Resources on this crisis and others, with respect to gender:
INITIATIVES
Economics of Crisis and GEM-IWG are editing a book on the effects of the US Financial Crisis of 2008 on vulnerable groups across the world. The book is the second in a two volume series on the global impact of the crisis on women and minorities, and will be published in 2011. All are welcome to submit an abstract. Final papers must be received by October 2010. Please email submissions or inquiries to sara_hsu@yahoo.com.
Oxfam's learning project on Gender and the Economic Crisis aims to actively engage gender and development advocates, researchers, and practitioners from a variety of organisations and networks in discussions around women's rights in the face of the economic crisis. Download Gender and the economic crisis project release Speaker presentations and outputs from the Gender and the Economic Crisis: Impact and Responses Workshop held at Oxfam House on 15th-16th September 2009 are now available to download from this network. Videos of the event to be added shortly. Visit Gender & Development at: http://genderanddevelopment.ning.com. Oxfam papers are listed below.
Feminist Economics is calling for papers on the impact of the crisis on gender. Abstracts are due April 15, 2010.Download FE
ARTICLES
Council of Europe assembly speech on gender impacts of crisis: http://assembly.coe.int/Documents/WorkingDocs/Doc09/EDOC11891.pdf.
Sakiko Fukada-Parr presented to the UN General Assembly's Interactive Panel on the Global Financial Crisis, The Human Impact of the Financial Crisis on Poor and Disempowered People and Countries. October 2008. Download Fukuda.pdf (0.0K) Lourdes Beneria, Sakiko Fukada-Parr, and Diane Elson have also written into the Financial Times about these issues. Download Fukudaletter1.doc (25.5K)
ILO: Latest ILO report on Global Employment Trends for Women - http://www.ilo.org/global/About_the_ILO/Media_and_public_information/Press_releases/lang--en/WCMS_103447/index.htm, indicating the continuing gender gaps in the world of work and increasing unemployment rates for both women and men. The crisis is likely to have more detrimental impact on women than on men in most regions, though in industrialized economies more men seem to be negatively affected to-date in terms of actual numbers of the unemployed. In some countries gender gap in unemployment rates is narrowing due to a higher increase in male unemployment rate.
Selim Jahan, UNDP, presentation at Levy Institute and GEM-IWG Conference, July 2009. Download Selim Jahan
Ajit Singh and Ann Zammit discuss the impact of financial crises on women in International Capital Flows: Identifying the Gender Dimension: https://www.cedeplar.ufmg.br/economia/disciplinas/ecn933a/crocco/Financiamento_desenvolvimento_genero/SINGH,%20A.&%20ZAMMIT,%20A.%20International%20capital%20flows%20identifying%20the%20gender%20dimension.pdf.
UN resources on gender impacts of crisis: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/feature/financialcrisis/.
PAPERS
Balakrishnan, Radhika, Diane Elson, and Raj Patel, 2009. Rethinking Macro Economic Strategies from a Human Rights Perspective. http://www.ushrnetwork.org/files/ushrn/images/linkfiles/MES-II.pdf
Buchmann, Claudia. 1996. The Debt Crisis, Structural Adjustment and Women's Education. International Journal of Comparative Sociology 37(1-2): 5-30. Link to Buchmann 1996 article
Corbacho, Ana, Mercedes Garcia-Escribano, and Gabriela Inchauste. 2007. Argentina: Macroeconomic Crisis and Household Vulnerability. Review of Development Economics 11(1): 92–106. Link to Corbacho et al 2007 article
Elson, Diane and Nilufer Cagatay. 2000. The Social Content of Macroeconomics. World Development 28(7): 1347-64. Link to Elson & Cagatay 2000 article
Enarson, Elaine. 2000. Gender and Natural Disasters. ILO InFocus Programme on Crisis Response and Reconstruction, Working Paper 1. Link to Enarson 2000 article
Fallon, Peter R. and Robert E. Lucas. 2002. The Impact of Financial Crises on Labor Markets, Household Incomes, and Poverty: A Review of Evidence. The World Bank Research Observer 17(1): 21-45. Link to Fallon & Lucas 2002 article
Fiszbein, Ariel, Paula Giovagnoli and Norman Thurston. 2002. Household Behavior in the Presence of Economic Crisis: Evidence from Argentina. World Bank Working Paper, February. Link to Fiszbein et al 2002 article
Floro, Maria and Gary Dymski. 2000. Financial Crisis, Gender and Power: An Analytical Framework. World Development 28(7): 1269-1283. Link to Floro & Dymski 2000 article
Fontana, Marzia and Adrian Wood. 2000. Modeling the Effects of Trade on Women, At Work and at Home. World Development 28(7) 1173-1190. Link to Fontana & Wood 2000 article
Galasso, Emanuela and Martin Ravallion. 2004. Social Protection in a Crisis: Argentina’s Plan Jefes y Jefas. World Bank’s Social Protection VI Project. Link to Galasso & Ravallion 2004 article
Kang, Sung Jin and Yasuyuki Sawada. 2003. Credit Crunches and Household Welfare: The Case of the Korean Financial Crisis. CIRJE Discussion Paper F-234. Link to Kang & Suwada 2003 article
Kim, Haejin and Paula B. Voos. 2007. The Korean Economic Crisis and Working Women. Journal of Contemporary Asia 37(2): 190-208 Link to Kim & Voos 2007 article
Lahey, Kathleen. 2009. Gender Analysis of Budget 2009, The Progressive Economics Forum. http://www.progressive-economics.ca/2009/01/31/gender-analysis-of-budget-2009/.
Lee, Kye Woo and Kisuk Cho. 2005. Female Labor Force Participation during Economic Crises in Argentina and the Republic of Korea. International Labor Review 144(4): 423-449. Link to Lee & Cho 2005 article
Lee, Jong-Wha and Changyong Rhee. 1998. Social Impacts of the Asian Crisis: Policy Challenges and Lessons. United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Report Office, November. Link to Lee & Rhee 1998 article
Levine, David I. and Minnie Ames. 2003. Gender Bias and The Indonesian Financial Crisis: Were Girls Hit Hardest? Center for International and Development Economics Research, University of California, Berkeley, Working Paper 130. Link to Levine & Ames 2003 article
Lim, Joseph Y. 2000. The Effects of the East Asian Crisis on the Employment of Women and Men: The Philippine Case. World Development 28(7): 1285-1306. Link to Lim 2000 article
Oxfam: New country and regional studies now available from Oxfam, summaries and full PDFs available from the links below: Women Paying the Price: The impact of the global financial crisis on women in Southeast Asia - A summary of five country case studies on gender and the global economic crisis - 15 February 2010, The Real Story Behind the Numbers: The impacts of the global economic crisis 2008–2009 on Indonesia’s women workers- 15 February 2010, Feminised Recession: The impact of the global financial crisis on women workers in the Philippines- 15 February 2010, Triple Burden: The impact of the financial crisis on women in Thailand - 15 February 2010, Beyond the Crisis: The impact of the financial crisis on women in Vietnam, - 15 February 2010, The Impact of the Global Economic Crisis on the Pacific Region, Oxfam International Research Report - 05 February 2010
Parrado, Emilio A. and Rene M. Zenteno. 2001. Economic Restructuring, Financial Crises, and Women’s Work in Mexico. Social Problems 48(4): 456-477. Link to Parrado & Zenteno 2001 article
Pernia, Ernesto M. and James C. Knowles. 1998. Assessing the Social Impact of the Financial Crisis in Asia. ADB EDRC Briefing Notes No. 6. Link to Pernia & Knowles 1998 article
Reyes, Celia M., Rosario G. Manasan, Aniceto C. Orbeta, Jr. and Generoso G. de Guzman. 1999. Social Impact of the Regional Financial Crisis in the Philippines. Philippine Institute for Development Studies Discussion Paper 99-14. Link to Reyes et al 1999 article
Romer, Christina and Jared Bernstein. 2009. The Job Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, January.Download stimulus_jobs.pdf (704.1K)
Seguino, Stephanie. 2009. The Global Economic Crisis, Its Gender Implications, and Policy Responses, Paper prepared for Gender Perspectives on the Financial Crisis Panel at the Fifty-Third Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, United Nations, March 5. Download Seguino.pdf (74.1K)
Silvey, Rachel and Rebecca Elmhirst. 2003. Engendering Social Capital: Women Workers and Rural–Urban Networks in Indonesia’s Crisis. World Development 31(5): 865–879. Link to Silvey & Elmhirst 2003 article
Singh, Ajit. 2002. Capital Account Liberalization, Free Long-Term Capital Flows, Financial Crises and Economic Development. Link to Singh 2002 article
Singh, Ajit and Ann Zammit. 2000. International Capital Flows: Identifying the Gender Dimension. World Development 28(7): 1249-1268. Link to Singh & Zammit 2000 article
Truong, Thanh-Dam. 2000. A Feminist Perspective on the Asian Miracle and Crisis: Enlarging the Conceptual Map of Human Development. Journal of Human Development 1(1): 159-164. Link to Truong 2000 article
UN. 1999. The Financial Crisis and its Impact on Growth and Development, Especially in the Developing Countries. UN Report of the Secretary-General, October 28. Link to UN 1999 article
Young, Brigitte. 2003. Chapter 6: Financial Crises and Social Reproduction: Asia, Argentina and Brazil. In Isabella Bakker and Stephen Gill (eds. ) Power Production and Social Reproduction (Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan). Download Bakker_Gill_ chap06.pdf (139.3K)
Young, Brigitte. 2002. The European Central Bank, Monetary Policy and the Nordic Welfare Model, International Feminist Journal of Politics, 4:3 December, 295–314 Download IFJP.pdf (167.8K)
Young, Brigitte and Helene Schuberth. 2010. The Global Financial Meltdown and the Impact of Financial Governance on Gender. Download Schuberth Young Policy Brief
Developing Countries
Developing countries are in danger of experiencing greater occurrences of poverty, due to credit constraints and slowdowns in economic growth.
Balakrishnan, R., Heintz, J., and Seguino, S. A Human Rights Response to the Economic Crisis in the U.S. (2009) http://cwgl.rutgers.edu/globalcenter/whatsnew/RBhumanrightsresponse2009.pdf
Jayati Ghosh, Jawaharlal Nehru University, presentation at Levy Institute and GEM-IWG Conference July 2009. Download FOOD CRISIS
Stephany Griffith-Jones and Jose Antonio Ocampo (2009) discuss "The Financial Crisis and its Impact on Developing Countries," http://www.undp.org/poverty/docs/sppr/docs-propoor/PG-2009-001-discussion-paper-financial-crisis-Griffith-Jones_Ocampo.pdf.
Sara Hsu, Shiyin Jiang, Halcott Heyward, Jocelyn Lam. Did the US Financial Crisis Impact China's Poor? (Forthcoming), Download Did the US Financial Crisis Impact Chinas Poor
International Food Policy Research Institute's April 2009 meeting presentations on the impact of the crisis on developing countries can be found here: http://www.ifpri.org/events/seminars/2009/20090430financial.asp.
IMF report on effects of crisis on developing countries: http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/books/2009/globalfin/globalfin.pdf. In 2009 alone, developing countries will need about $25 billion.
Hossein Jalilian and Glenda Reyes. 2010. Cambodia Phase 2. Global Financial Crisis Discussion Series Paper 14. http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/download/4721.pdf
Ocampo-Wade: In November 2008, GDAE’s Kevin P. Gallagher interviewed economists José Antonio Ocampo and Robert Wade when they were at Tufts University to receive the institute’s Leontief Prize for Advance the Frontiers of Economic Thought. The interview appeared in the January-February 2009 issue of Challenge magazine under the title “The Economic Crisis and the Developing World: What Next?” The interview is now available online at:
http://www.challengemagazine.com/interview.htm For the Ocampo-Wade interview:
http://www.challengemagazine.com/Challenge%20interview%20pdfs/027_039.pdf
OECD Policy Insight on implications of financial crisis for FDI to developing countries: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/56/34/41804466.pdf.
Overseas Development Institute report, The Global Financial Crisis and Developing Countries, October 2008: http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/odi-publications/background-notes/2008/global-financial-crisis-developing-countries-growth.pdf.
Martin Ravallion, 2009, Bailing Out the World's Poorest, http://www.socialprotectionasia.org/newsletter_3/Bailing_our_the_world's_poorest_WPS4763.pdf.
Andrew L. Thorne-Lyman, Natalie Valpiani, Kai Sun, Richard D. Semba, Christine L. Klotz, Klaus Kraemer, Nasima Akhter, Saskia de Pee, Regina Moench-Pfanner, Mayang Sari and Martin W. Bloem. 2010. Household Dietary Diversity and Food Expenditures Are Closely Linked in Rural Bangladesh, Increasing the Risk of Malnutrition Due to the Financial Crisis. http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/abstract/140/1/182S.
UN paper on the crisis and developing countries, by Wim Naude: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/4698927/The-Financial-Crisis-of-2008-and-the-Developing-Countries. Background paper for G20 meeting, March 2009: http://www.un.org/ga/president/63/PDFs/WorldBankreport.pdf.
Ramaa Vasudevan. 2010. Reforming the International Financial System: Core and Periphery Issues and the Dollar Standard. Download Ramaa Core Periphery Issues
The World Bank reports on the impact of the crisis on developing countries: http://www.worldbank.org/html/extdr/financialcrisis/. A recent World Bank press release estimated that about 53 million more people in developing countries could slip into poverty due to the crisis: http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:22068931~pagePK:64257043~piPK:437376~theSitePK:4607,00.html. Assessment on crisis and the poor: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/NEWS/Resources/WBGVulnerableCountriesBrief.pdf. Women are particularly vulnerable to the crisis: http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:22092604~menuPK:34464~pagePK:34370~piPK:34424~theSitePK:4607,00.html. Report from World Bank president on the financial crisis and developing countries: http://crisistalk.worldbank.org/files/Oct_31_JustinLin_KDI_remarks.pdf. World Bank: Migration and Development Brief, July 2009, Outlook for Remittance Flows 2009-2011, http://www.remesasydesarrollo.org/uploads/media/Migration_DevelopmentBrief10.pdf.
