Elson, D., 1999, 'Gender-neutral, gender-blind, or gender-sensitive budgets? Changing the conceptual framework to include women's empowerment and the economy of care', in Commonwealth Secretariat, Gender Budget Initiative - Background Papers, London: Commonwealth Secretariat

How and why can a national budget in a sector such as education result in the favouring of boys over girls? And how could the budget be used instead to better achieve gender equality in schools? One of the ways suggested has been to create a better picture or "framework" for understanding the budget, and people's contribution to and demands on the economy. Elson describes budgets as being assumed "gender-neutral" whereas in fact they are "gender blind". The budget fails to take into account the fact that men and women have different roles, responsibilities and resources in society. This failure leads to further discrimination against and disempowerment of women. One of the major failures of budgets is the neglect of the unpaid "care economy" and recommendations are made as to how this work could be valued or measured, and included in the budget. This would involve new ways of collecting and presenting data, and focusing on economic areas outside those more traditionally associated with budget work. The way we look at macro-economic models needs to change - this involves re-thinking the relationships between different areas of economic life such as the public and private sectors, the domestic, and the formal and informal economies.

Current economic models are based on the unit of the household. However the household is seen as a consumer of goods and public services rather than a producer which provides valuable inputs and resources into both public and private economies. Women's contribution to the economy is largely in this hidden area of production which includes care work, voluntary or civil society activity, subsistence production and work in the informal sector. The invisibility of this activity means not only that it is underestimated or inaccurately measured, but it is also excluded from Gross National Product (GNP) and usually ignored when making policy decisions. The 'care economy' is the work done, usually in the domestic sphere, which keeps the labour force fed and clothed, and raises the future labour force, therefore ensuring that society operates effectively. Estimates show that the value of unpaid work can be equivalent to at least half of a country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). If the care economy is neglected this can have serious consequences for society and its productivity as it is neglecting the care of its most important resource - people.

It is recommended that:

• A parallel budget or "satellite accounts" be set up that would focus on measuring and trying to quantify the value of unpaid output in the care economy. These would view caring labour in terms of market price and would make the division of labour which underpins this more explicit. It would also contribute to viewing sustainability in terms of sustaining society as well as the economy.
• Investment is made in the care economy. This should incorporate greater provision of free public services such as health care and education. It should also incorporate an understanding of women's role in this economy and adjust policy accordingly - for example by making key services available free at the point of delivery.
• · Gender-disaggregated data is compiled of all economic activity and set out in a “Social Accounting Matrix”. This would give a better picture of how and why women’s economic activity often goes unmeasured and under-valued. Data should be collected on variations in income, expenditure, and government spending within and between households and businesses, and within government committees and departments.