Gender budgeting in the context of social protection in Ukraine

Abstract

The article considers gender budgeting as a way to solve important social problems, in particular those related to meeting the needs of women. Given the need a significantly improve the demographic situation in the country the problem of social support for women of childbearing age becomes especially urgent. The general characteristic of gender budgeting is presented. This will help to find out further directions for reforming budget (as well as social) legislation. The dynamics of fertility in Ukraine in 1990-2018 is shown. The purpose of the article is to identify those gender issues that should be taken into account by the government and local authorities during budgeting, in particular those related to the social protection of women. The study used general scientific and special methods: analysis and synthesis, the method of comparison, generalization, statistical and others. The methodological basis of the study is a comprehensive approach, system-structural analysis and the dialectical method of scientific knowledge. The scientific approaches to the definition of the concept of "gender budgeting" are generalized. The necessity of increasing the maternity allowance has been proved, in particular for women who are not insured in the system of compulsory state social insurance, as well as the expediency of reorienting the calculation of the benefit amount from 25% of the living wage for an able-bodied person to its full size. Conclusions: In Ukraine, while making budgetary analysis and planning of expenditures aimed at ensuring gender equality, it is necessary that in state and local authorities budgets precisely those expenditures should be take into account, which are important not only for women but for men, the state and all the society as well. This requires: strengthening political support for gender initiatives; coordinating the efforts of various agencies as to the transition to the gender-oriented budgeting (GOB) on an ongoing basis; involving questions related to social policy issues, including gender inequality, into training programs for economics, finance, and public administration; gender analysis not only of expenditures but also of budget revenues; cooperation of state bodies engaged in budgeting with public organizations, communities, feminist centers.

Keywords

• gender budget
• gender equality
• gender equality index
• gender studies
• social assistance
• single mothers
• maternity benefits