146 : ESTUDIOS TECNICOS DEL IMPACTO DE LOS DESARROLLOS URBANISTICOS La necesidad de controlar efectivamente el impacto ambiental y la estabilidad de

Long-standing inequalities in the gender distribution of economic and financial resources have placed women at a disadvantage relative to men in their capability to participate in, contribute to and benefit from broader processes of development (UN DESA 2009). Macroeconomic policies impact on gender equality through markets and state interventions which distribute key economic and financial resources (UN DESA 2009). These include tax systems which can create and perpetrate gender inequalities by influencing the allocation of time to formal, informal and unpaid work as well as through the imposition of direct taxes for the consumption of goods and service (UN DESA 2009). Budgets influence how governments allocate public sector expenditure and can shape inequality in relation to gender, race, age and

ability (Elson 1999, Klot, Holvoet et al. 2002). In the UK, wide reaching changes to the welfare system and budget cuts since 2010 have primarily affected women with two-thirds of these changes impacting women’s income rather than men’s (Fawcett Society 2012).

Government budgets particularly in the Global South have also been shaped by Globalization. In the 1970s the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) introduced Structural Adjustment Programmes in sub-Saharan Africa (Gershman and Irwin 2000, O'Manique 2004). These programmes specified strict conditions on any loans provided to governments and led to reductions of state budgets (particularly for social projects), the reduction of

employment of public sector workers, the privatization of and establishment of user fees for public services and the weakening of ministries of health and education due to budget and human resource constraints (Gershman and Irwin

2000, O'Manique 2004, Poku 2004). All these policies had important

implications for gender equality because reductions in funding for social and health funding often led to women providing these services for free increasing their unpaid workload and meaning they had to work longer days or withdraw from income generation outside the home.

The introduction of user fees for social services such as health also had an impact on gender equity. The World Bank in 1987 argued that the introduction of user fees would be effective in raising additional funds and improving efficiency within the health system (Yates 2009). However, a number of studies have highlighted that user fees are in fact “an ineffective, inefficient and inequitable funding mechanism that has been ineffective at raising substantial funds” (Yates 2009: 2078).

To highlight the impact of user fees on women’s demand for health care, Nanda (2002) cites the case in Kenya of the introduction of user fees. “[T]he introduction of user fees (amounting to half a day of pay for a poor person) in government outpatient health facilities led to a dramatic reduction in

utilisation of sexually transmitted disease services by both men and women, but at significantly greater rates for women. Before the introduction of user fees, there were fewer women than men attending. Nine months after their introduction, the fees were revoked, and women’s utilisation rose to a greater

level than the pre-fees level” (Nanda 2002: 129). A further study in Kenya demonstrated the impact made on demand by charging women for social goods. In a randomised control trial, conducted by the Poverty Action

Laboratory, found that charging pregnant women US$0.75 for an insecticide- treated bed net lessened demand by 75% (Yates 2009).

The way that economic systems remunerate and organise the labour force is central to macro-economic processes and gender. Traditionally in most societies there has been a clear division of labour based around a separation between productive and reproductive activities. Men have been primarily concentrated in formal paid work, while women have undertaken reproductive activities within the home (Barrientos, Kabeer et al. 2004). While there have

been changes in the division of labour in the past thirty years, gendered norms still impact on who has access to work: who can work and where they can work. The division of labour within work which includes sex segregation and the compensation for work (the pay which particular kinds of work) often favours men over women (Reskin 1993, Charles and Bradley 2009). In developing countries many occupations that are dominated by men, such as mining, road construction or quarrying pay more money than occupations that are dominated by women such as farming, domestic work and selling

vegetables.

Globalization has through improved communication and transportation connected large numbers of workers and consumers across the Global North and South. These improved linkages have led to fundamental changes in how

consumer goods are produced. These changes have in turn created increased employment opportunities for women in export-oriented labour-intensive manufacturing (Barrientos, Kabeer et al. 2004, UN DESA 2009). While these have created new opportunities for women to enter paid employment, earn an income and gain independence the employment conditions of these positions have often provided little social protection (Barrientos, Kabeer et al. 2004). This is because the conditions of employment have often been flexible (part- time, temporary, casual) and often without an employment contract. This has allowed producers to further shift the costs and risks of production such as adverse conditions or market fluctuations onto workers (Barrientos, Kabeer et al. 2004). The flexible nature of this work can also mean that women are forced to work long hours for low wages. Studies have also shown that while women may have access to wage employment they have also remained responsible for most of the domestic tasks. This has meant that women have had to work longer hours with less social support (Barrientos, Kabeer et al. 2004).