Towards a Feminist Fiscal Policy in a Post-pandemic Economy

With the COVID-19 pandemic receding in public memory, many of its long-standing effects on the economy and especially vulnerable groups such as women also seem to be forgotten. This is reflected in policymaking as well, as witnessed through a feminist analysis of budget documents. In particular, budgets over the last two fiscals have cut down allocations and expenditures on several key schemes meant for women and other vulnerable groups. Going further, there is a need for gender-sensitive planning and budgeting in order to ensure inclusive growth and development, and better crisis preparedness.

The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare multiple shortcomings in India’s fiscal planning and its catastrophic effects on the Indian economy, society and people, especially the most vulnerable and marginalised groups. In this context, several studies have revealed the deeply gendered impact of the pandemic, including those conducted by the Feminist Policy Collective (Dasgupta and Mitra 2020; Dewan 2022). All arguments and observations point towards the need for better planning and resource allocation to prevent the widening of gender gaps. These include addressing aggravated gender differences in paid employment (both formal and informal), occupational segregation leading to gender pay gaps, gendered trends in job losses, women having to do greater amounts of unpaid work, cessation of critical sexual and reproductive health services as well as the alarming rise in gender-based violence. Going forward, it is imperative that all policies should take an intersectional feminist lens that is sensitive to the vulnerabilities faced by women and gender minorities. This is essential for inclusive growth and development as well as better crisis preparedness.