As pointed out by many experts and organizations,¹ the economic crisis will have serious consequences for women. More significantly, the crisis will hamper progress made so far in achieving gender equality.² Even though the global financial crisis is still unfolding, and it is too early to anticipate its full social implications,³ the crisis seems likely to affect women in such areas as employment and social safety networks, unpaid care work, health, education, migration, and also in terms of gender violence. Lessons from the 1997 crisis in Asia, when many low-income households fell swiftly and deeply into poverty,⁴ should be taken into account when formulating responses to the current crisis. In Russia, for example, women are often in low-paying, low-level public-sector jobs. They have experienced significant discrimination in the private sector, with low shares of the high-paying jobs in that sector. Women have also made up the bulk of the long-term unemployed.⁵ Such vulnerability could easily deepen as the crisis unfolds. In addition to formulating macro-level policies, responding to these challenges requires reaching out to the most vulnerable and marginalized, including women.

Employment and social safety networks
Men and women may be affected differently because of gender-specific inequalities in labour markets and prevailing norms about men and women’s role in the economy and society. The notion that men are the ‘breadwinners’ of a family may lead to unequal treatment of men and women in terms of dismissal, social security entitlements and rehiring.⁶ Women may therefore bear the brunt of economic hardship–being the first to lose their jobs, or being forced to take on more work, or work longer hours when male breadwinners lose their jobs. Furthermore, women often constitute the majority of temporary, casual, seasonal and contract labourers, and low-skilled workers, unlikely to be covered by formal unemployment insurance or social protection schemes. For example, in Kazakhstan, limited access to the financial resources necessary for formal business activities pushes women into self-employment and small-scale commercial activities in the informal sector.⁷ Female-headed households are more likely to be at greatest risk, with few if any savings to weather the crisis, and limited ownership of wealth and other assets. In developed and middle-income countries, men are better positioned to weather the crisis. They have higher paying jobs, more assets and wealth. Their jobs are more likely to offer unemployment insurance and other benefits. Women’s jobs pay lower wages, in part because women are more likely to have part-time employment.

Men and women migrant workers are likewise affected by the crisis (as well as their families back home),⁸ in terms of reductions in household incomes and inadequate social protection. However, the scale of female migration is often under-reported, and with it the impact on families dependent on their wages for survival. On the other hand, women may find themselves in an even more vulnerable position when they return home, rejected by their communities and families and perceived as prostitutes.⁹

Other challenges related to women’s
economic and social status
The quality and access of health services may deteriorate significantly as a consequence of the crisis. During difficult times, families often rely on women for care for the sick, elderly, and extended family. This means longer work hours and heavier work loads for women–many of whom are already employed outside the home.¹⁰ This ‘social reproduction’ work, which is not realized through the market and is therefore not counted in GDP, is more likely to present women with difficult choices about reconciling intra- and extra-household labour.¹¹ Girls in poor countries with low education attainment rates are also more likely to be pulled out of school as households cope with declining incomes.¹² School attendance during times of crisis typically declines; some children may never return to school. Another concern relates to recent evidence suggesting that incidences of abuse and violence against women increase during periods of socio-economic crisis.¹³ Indebtedness, labour migration, or changes in breadwinners’ roles create additional stress in families, which can lead to abuse of drugs and alcohol, domestic violence, and in extreme cases, suicide. While often being the perpetrators of this abuse, men may also be more likely to experience personal difficulties in such periods, partly because their abilities to perform traditional roles within the family are challenged.¹⁴

Responding to the crisis
With its human development approach, UNDP is well positioned to take a lead in addressing the human consequences of the economic and financial crisis. It can advocate for policies that create economic and social support mechanisms that safeguard the poor and marginalized against the negative consequences for human development. Such an approach will also reduce the vulnerability of the poor and marginalized–including women–against future crises.




Limited access to finance pushes women into self-employment and small-scale commercial activities in the informal sector.
© OSCE/Eric Gourlan

Thus, support for social protection is required, along with appropriate macroeconomic policies.¹⁵ Investments in social infrastructure (inter alia to improve care for children, the elderly, sick and disabled), and in jobs that improve safety, social cohesion, and quality of life are extremely important in this context. Economic stimulus packages could reduce unpaid care work through focusing on local service delivery. Examples of women-friendly employment schemes include public employment projects that are close to home and provide for child care, flexible working hours, home-based production, paid care work, and shared employment (i.e., reducing working hours rather than eliminating jobs). Microcredit schemes have become a proven method for supporting women entrepreneurs engaged in small-scale production. However, empowerment cannot be assumed to be an automatic outcome of microfinance programmes.¹⁶

Strengthened global partnerships will be needed to avoid any reversal of progress made thus far. In the realm of gender equality, it is even more important in these difficult economic times not to cut budgets for aid and social safety nets, but to promote job creation, which is important for social inclusion and stability.

Louise Sperl is Programme Specialist for the Gender Team at the UNDP Bratislava Regional Centre.