Gender budgeting - Why?

Gender budgeting contributes to gender and equality mainstreaming of all policy-making and planningon the part of ministries and public institutions as stipulated in the Act of Equal Status and Equal Rights Irrespective of Gender. With its aim to advance gender equality, gender budgeting also contributes to economic prosperity as inequality is considered to have negative economic impact on societies.

Due to people’s different situation and role in society, the collection and allocation of public funds has different impact on various groups. Gender budgeting includes analysing the different impact of budget provisions on men and women and those that define their gender identity differently. While most focus is on gender, it is also important to include other marginalized groups and consider factors such as socio-economic status, age, origin and disability.

The gendered differences in society can be highlighted with a lifespan perspective:

Gender disaggregated data is another way to highlight the different situation of women and men. The Prime Minister’s Office, the Directorate of Equality and Statistics Iceland have gathered some key gender statistics and made available online.