Government tax and spending decisions have powerful social, environmental, and economic implications for a country, shaping people’s choices regarding work and economic participation. 

61% of OECD Member Countries now practice gender budgeting, an important public governance tool that governments can use to assess how budget decisions impact gender equality. When implemented effectively, gender budgeting helps identify budget measures that will be effective in closing gender gaps, and expose how gender inequalities may be created or worsened by the allocation of resources.
 

The OECD’s Best Practice for Gender Budgeting  identify elements that contribute to the sustainability of gender budgeting and help governments ensure that their budgets can achieve gender equality objectives, such as women’s participation in the labour market.

The OECD helps governments mainstream gender in all aspects of policy-making. It provides policy advice and tools to assess how women, men, and gender-diverse people may be affected by policies and budget allocations; and to set priorities for improvement.  
 

At the global level, the OECD Forum on Gender Equality will promote mainstreaming by bringing decision-makers from the public and private sectors together to share innovative solutions and develop joined-up actions to close gender gaps across policy areas.