How is macroeconomics relevant to women’s human rights? 
Unpaid care work is not included in macroeconomic calculations and not compensated
Feminist criticisms of conventional macroeconomic policies
“Macroeconomic policy making does not happen in a vacuum. It is deeply entrenched in the social, cultural, and political structures of each country, including gender stereotypes and patriarchal norms and values. Left unexamined, macroeconomic policies often serve to reinforce these stereotypes and norms, and to further embed gender inequality. Likewise, designed with an intersectional feminist approach, these policies can be used to shift power relations and challenge harmful stereotypes and norms.”
– Constanza Pauchulo, Programme Manager, IWRAW Asia Pacific
Macroeconomy is not gender-neutral
In the previous sections of this starter kit, we have seen that decision-makers largely present macroeconomics as a technical issue relating only to numbers or complicated formulas, and as separate from human rights and the everyday impacts of these policies on people. The positive indicators for an economy going well are all about rates and figures and about the flow of money, instead of focusing on its effects on people’s well-being, rights, and communities, and animals, lands, oceans, and the ecosystem as a whole.
We also got the chance to see in the previous sections that macroeconomics is actually much more than numbers; it directly affects the lives of people, in a gendered manner. In fact, conventional approaches to macroeconomics are not gender-neutral; they fail to take into account the gender-differentiated impacts of their recommendations and policy positions. Macroeconomic policies have different impacts on the lives of women and men. The current economic system depends on the unpaid labour of women, while men’s overwhelming domination of decision-making positions leads to overlooking the issues, perspectives, and needs of women, girls, and non-binary people.
It should also be noted that the economy generally affects women and men differently, who encounter different benefits and/or unequal burdens relating to paid and unpaid labour. Economic systems are built-in discriminatory ways that exclude women on the basis of biological differences and gender stereotypes. For example, women’s participation in the economy is hindered by lack of or limited time for parental leave, as well as work recruitment procedures that discriminate on the basis of pregnancy or disability.
The disproportionate gendered effects of macroeconomic policies are not caused by national politics and priorities alone. Extraterritorial and international policies and conditions impact people differently based on gender, such as economic and policy conditions imposed on countries which borrow money from international financial institutions, or global tax and financial systems that facilitate tax evasion and allow for money to flow in and out of countries unrestrained. However, it requires a critical lens and analysis to be able to discern many of these differential effects, and feminist economists and activists have been vital in bringing these analyses to light.
Feminist critiques of current macroeconomic structures, and proposals for just macroeconomic policies, have gained momentum especially since the 1980s and 1990s, with a notable wave since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis. While there are overarching criticisms of conventional approaches to macroeconomic policies, there are also more specific criticisms, some of which this section will try to explain. In the later sections, we will also present alternatives proposed by some feminist economists. The issues presented below are by no means an exhaustive list; there are many others that have not been examined here, and our sections on further resources can help you to look into them.
How is macroeconomics relevant to women’s human rights?
Unpaid care work is not included in macroeconomic calculations and not compensated