Closing gaps in labour force participation and working hours is estimated to result in an average boost of 9.2% to GDP across OECD countries by 2060.
Gender budgeting
Closing gender gaps is key to sustain stronger long-term economic growth. Increased participation of women in the workforce, for example, is particularly helpful in the context of the shrinking labour forces that many OECD countries are expected to face over the coming decades due to population ageing. Effective gender budgeting plays a crucial role in driving policy measures to address these gaps.
Key messages
Gender budgeting is increasingly practised in OECD countries and is now a budgeting tool used to help close gender gaps in 61% of member countries.
OECD best practices aim to guide countries towards the core elements which will help raise the standard of gender budgeting. Through implementing these best practices, countries can hope to see greater consideration of gender equality in budget decision-making, helping drive outcomes in relation to national gender priorities.
Context
The number of OECD countries practising gender budgeting has almost doubled in recent years.
The number of OECD countries practising gender budgeting has almost doubled in recent years. In 2022, over 60% of OECD countries (23 countries out of 38) used gender budgeting.
The OECD has set out seven best practices for gender budgeting.
The best practices draw on gender budgeting practices in Member countries and the OECD’s work with countries in designing and implementing gender budgeting.
OECD Best Practices for Gender Budgeting
1. Strengthening the link between budgeting and key gender equality objectives
2. Ensuring gender budgeting is sustainable beyond political cycles
3. Incorporating gender budgeting into the overarching budget framework, with leadership from the central budget authority
4. Embedding gender budgeting tools at all stages of the budget cycle
5. Underpinning gender budgeting with strong data and analysis
6. Supporting gender budgeting implementation through capacity building
7. Using gender budgeting to reinforce governmental transparency and accountability
Related policy issues
-
Designing and implementing gender budgeting – a path to actionLearn more
-
Fiscal frameworks outline the government's fiscal intentions and explain how these will be implemented concretely. Well-designed fiscal frameworks provide clarity and stability in government fiscal operations, ensuring that spending on policy priorities of governments, like healthcare, education, and climate adaptation, are funded and sustainable. Additionally, they build resilience by helping governments prepare effectively for economic challenges.Learn more
-
The OECD Network on Fiscal Relations across Levels of Government, also known as the “Fiscal Network”, provides a platform for countries to engage on intergovernmental fiscal relations and fiscal decentralisation policy issues. Its core mission is to improve the efficiency, equity and stability of fiscal systems through cross-country policy analysis and international comparisons. The Network facilitates best practice sharing through high-level meetings and maintaining a comprehensive decentralisation database, informing policymaking and reforms. Through collaborative efforts like workshops and the Fiscal Federalism publication series, the Network enables policymakers to access and contribute to research and insights on managing financial relationships across government levels. Supported by a multidisciplinary OECD team, the Network emphasises concrete outcomes, offering members a structured environment to learn, share and apply successful policy strategies.Learn more
-
Gender budgeting and intersectionalityLearn more
-
Gender budgeting and intersectionality (Highlights)Learn more
-
Gender budgeting: The economic and fiscal rationaleLearn more