Across the world, women have been the shock absorbers of poverty for generations, but do women have to continue carrying this burden? What if women’s needs could be integrated in policy and budget planning, and there was investment in women’s priorities? For far too long, women have gone without necessities, including food, heat and clothing, and carried the physical and psychological stress of making ends meet, with often disastrous impacts on their health and wellbeing. Chronic poverty has also left women without a voice and largely invisible from policy makers and Government.

This session will explore how feminist approaches to economics, including gender budgeting, can create change. It will highlight Northern Ireland as an example of how gender neutral policy making has worsened the cost-of-living crisis for women, and share women’s stories, as pointers to priorities for change. It will also share examples and perspectives on how gender budgeting can drive policy change, and explore a new feminist agenda for ending women’s poverty.