Three new discussion papers highlight gender dimensions of various government policies

In July, UN Women launched a new discussion paper series to highlight the original research commissioned exclusively for UN Women’s flagship reports and other publications.

The newest additions to the series include a paper that explores the intersectionality of gender equality, social reproduction and growth in addition to two studies that examine the gender dimensions of government policies that seek to increase access to social services and social protection.

• In “Economic growth and social reproduction: Gender inequality as cause and consequence,” Elissa Braunstein, Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at Colorado State University, examines how growth, social reproduction and gender equality are connected in ways that make paid and unpaid care work a key determinant of macroeconomic policy outcomes, growth and development.
• In “Falling through the net? Gender and social protection in the Pacific,” Margaret Jolly, Helen Lee, Katherine Lepani, Anna Naupa and Michelle Rooney, accomplished researchers engaged in policy and development work across the Pacific region, analyse the gender dimensions of social protection in three countries in the Pacific region – Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Vanuatu – and explores how best to approach social protection so as to promote gender equality rather than risk reinscribing prevailing gender inequalities.
• In “Are governments catching up? Work-family policy and inequality in Latin America,” Merike Blofield, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Miami and Juliana Martinez Franzoni, Associate Professor at the University of Costa Rica, examine government policies that aim to balance work and family life, focusing on employment based leaves and early childhood education and care services in Latin America.