By designing a policy package around the needs of contemporary families, political leaders can promote women’s rights, children’s development, and employment. The same policies would therefore be a boon to economic growth and poverty reduction.
NEW YORK – Political economy has come a long way. Many figures and institutions that have long embraced neoliberalism increasingly recognize the failures of markets and acknowledge that states may have a role to play in improving socioeconomic outcomes. Even the International Monetary Fund now discusses the “macro-criticality” of social protection, the need for progressive taxation, and, potentially, universal transfers.
But the conversation – which focuses almost exclusively on coordination between state and market – remains too narrow to produce effective solutions. For that, as a new report by UN Women shows, social factors – especially the role of families and gender equality – must also be included.
These two factors are inextricably linked, with gender inequalities being heavily reinforced by family dynamics, in a way that, say, racial inequalities are not. The problem is compounded by the fact that outdated assumptions about families and gender dynamics continue to shape social and economic policymaking.
NEW YORK – Political economy has come a long way. Many figures and institutions that have long embraced neoliberalism increasingly recognize the failures of markets and acknowledge that states may have a role to play in improving socioeconomic outcomes. Even the International Monetary Fund now discusses the “macro-criticality” of social protection, the need for progressive taxation, and, potentially, universal transfers.
But the conversation – which focuses almost exclusively on coordination between state and market – remains too narrow to produce effective solutions. For that, as a new report by UN Women shows, social factors – especially the role of families and gender equality – must also be included.
These two factors are inextricably linked, with gender inequalities being heavily reinforced by family dynamics, in a way that, say, racial inequalities are not. The problem is compounded by the fact that outdated assumptions about families and gender dynamics continue to shape social and economic policymaking.