Are Finance Ministries the hidden architects of gender equality?

It’s Not Just About Budgets—It’s About Power

Let’s be honest—when people think about gender equality, Ministries of Finances (MOFs) aren’t the first institutions that come to mind. Gender issues are often framed as social policy concerns, left to ministries of labor, education, or women’s affairs. But did you know that gender equality is as much a public finance issue as it is a social one?

Finance ministries control the public purse. They decide how public resources are raised, allocated, and spent, decisions that shape economic and social outcomes. This means they have the power to accelerate or stall gender equality progress.

The Problem: A Gender-Blind Fiscal System

To this day, government budgets have not managed to address gender disparities effectively:

• According to the OECD, tax policies in many countries penalize second earners, who are often women, discouraging them from working. Based on the latest available data, the tax burden is higher for second earners than for single individuals earning the same amount in most OECD countries (see Figure 1). 
• PEFA Gender Responsive Public Financial Management (GRPFM) assessments reveal that only few countries analyze budget proposals for gender impacts, leading to missed opportunities for more inclusive fiscal policies. Out of the 32 publicly available GRPFM assessments, only four (12.5%) received a score of C or better, meaning that only some proposed changes in revenue or expenditure policies included gender impact assessments.
• Public spending often prioritizes male-dominated sectors, like infrastructure, instead of social services such as childcare and education, as highlighted in Reljic and Zezza’s 2025 publication. Gender-neutral budgets maintain status quos instead of actively working to close gender gaps. As Janet Stotsky from the IMF points out, “there is no such thing as a gender-neutral government budget.”  

The result? Women remain economically marginalized, and economies underperform by failing to harness the full potential of their workforce.

Figure 1. Tax wedge of the second earner and a single earner at the same earnings level, 2023

_{Source: OECD (2024), Taxing Wages 2024: Tax and Gender through the Lens of the Second Earner, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/dbcbac85-en. The tax wedge is the combined personal income tax and employee social security contribution burden net of cash benefits.}

Gender Responsive Budgeting—More than a buzzword when put into action

If ministries of finance get Gender-Responsive Budgeting (GRB) right, the results can be transformational. It’s not about creating a separate “women’s budget”—it’s about applying the tool “with purpose.” What does this mean?

Think about this expression, which resonated with us while we were brainstorming ways to make GRB work more intentionally to close gender gaps:

Purpose= f (Objective, Problem, Function)

• Objective sets the direction → What does MOF seek to achieve with GRB at a moment in time? Is it inclusive economic growth? Efficient and equitable resource allocation? Something else?
• Problem defines the binding constraint → What issues or bottlenecks make GRB interventions necessary, within the context of the specified objective? Gaps in labor force participation? Underinvestment in gender-responsive programs such as childcare? Gender-blind budgeting that reinforces systemic inequalities?
• Function operationalizes solutions → GRB can work regardless of the existence of a problem or overarching objective. To see an impact, though, the question is this: What specific GRB actions can MOFs take to enable the government to collectively eliminate the identified binding constraints? Fiscal decisions informed by gender incidence analyses? Eliminating gender biases in tax codes? Creating procurement preferences that promote gender inclusivity in the private sector?

GRB works best when all its functions—like analyzing impacts, allocating resources, adjusting fiscal policies, and ensuring accountability—are used strategically within a broader context. This means addressing specific issues in fiscal policymaking and applying targeted solutions to meet clear goals. By fully leveraging all parts of the system, MOFs can effectively tackle challenges and make progress toward their objectives. 

An Illustration of GRB in action

The knowledge and tools are available, so what’s needed is for finance ministries to take purposeful action and implement what we already know works.

Key takeaway: Finance Ministries must take the lead

Finance ministries can accelerate gender equality using their tools and influence. They can drive change through budgeting, taxation, and fiscal policies to create more inclusive economies by taking purposeful GRB actions. As we mark International Women’s Day, let’s encourage ministries of finance everywhere to act quickly and make gender-responsive budgeting standard practice. What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments!