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Money Matters
series
How do you make gender budget research and analysis accessible to non-specialists?
What support can be given to those advocating for gender-sensitive budget
analysis? The three Money Matters books are popular versions of the five
South African Women's Budget analyses (see section on Africa under the Case
studies section for further details of these). The books are tools for lobbying
and advocacy and are targeted at second-language English speakers with ten
years of education. The series is a collaborative initiative between the
Community Agency of Social Enquiry (CASE), the Institute for Democracy in
South Africa (Idasa), and the Parliamentary Committee on the Quality of
Life and Status of Women.
All the Money Matters books can be purchased from Idasa directly,
or alternatively, these books are available from Women, Ink. Please see
Networking and Contact details for more information. |
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Hurt, K. and Budlender, D. (eds), 1998, Money Matters
[One]: Women and the Government Budget, Cape Town: Idasa
Through simple explanations and stories this book demonstrates how important
gender-sensitive policies and budgets are to achieving equality between
women and men, and between different groups of women and men in South
Africa. It summarises for non-specialists chapters from The Women's Budget (1996) and The Second Women's Budget (1997). From the first book it covers:
a profile of South African women; work; welfare; education; public service;
and taxation. From the second it covers: safety and security; justice
and correctional services; land affairs and agriculture; and health. Examples
used include:
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Income, gender and race
The chart shows that women earn a lot less than men within each
race group, with the gap particularly wide when it comes to self-employed
women. The chart also illustrates that white women consistently
earn more than African men.
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Mean monthly earnings by race and gender in South Africa, 1995
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| Source |
Gender |
African |
Coloured |
Indian |
White |
| Wage/salary |
Women |
R1 188 |
R1 170 |
R2 106 |
R2 955 |
| Men |
R1 479 |
R1 558 |
R2 986 |
R5 578 |
| Income (self-employed) |
Women |
R1 831 |
R1 831 |
R5 026 |
R7 036 |
| Men |
R4 310 |
R6 005 |
R11 802 |
R20 270 |
(p9)
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Health: story
Sinah Mamuremi holds onto her 18-month old baby tightly as the
taxi swings widely around a corner. She sighs. This is the second
day in one week she has had to take off work to go to the clinic.
Her boss gave her a funny look yesterday when she said she needed
more time off. It worried her.
On Monday, she had to go for a check-up before starting on a new
contraceptive. Now today, Wednesday, she must go for her baby's
immunisation. Things would have been far better if she could have
done both things on one day. The clinic sister she spoke with told
her that the health department wants to introduce integrated services
so people can see to all their health needs in one visit, but it
is a long time coming.
The extra cost of taxi fare and missing work makes her feel very
anxious - just now she'll have to come for another visit on another
day for high blood pressure!' |
(p54) |
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Hurt, K. and Budlender, D.
(eds), 2000, Money Matters Two: Women and the Local Government Budget,
Cape Town: Idasa
Chapters from The Fourth Women's Budget (1999) are summarised for non-specialists
in the second book in the Money Matters series. After a background to
women and the local government budget, cases of five municipalities are
studied: Lusikisiki, Greater Middelburg, Port Elizabeth, Greater Lebowakgomo,
and Cape Town (see also summary of The Fourth Women's Budget under Africa
in the section on case studies). Examples to illustrate the significance
of gender issues and appropriate budget allocations in the water, sanitation,
refuse removal and electricity sectors include:
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Port Elizabeth Street Lighting Project (Pelp)
The project has installed 44 highmasts, electrified 12 existing
highmasts and upgraded 23 in the city's most disadvantaged areas.
Research showed that with highmast lighting:
- Crimes of rape, housebreaking and assaults went down.
- Women were able to put washing on the line overnight, and grow
vegetables and plants, without worrying they would be stolen.
- Women were less worried about the safety of their children.
- People felt safer to walk around, visit and go to events at
night.
- It is easier to see vehicles and people on the road, improving
traffic and personal safety at night. Because they can walk to
public meetings at night, township dwellers spend less money on
taxi fares.
- The lighting saves money on electricity, candles and paraffin
as the brightness of the highmast lights makes it possible for
residents to see inside their homes. This is different to the
Middelburg township people who said that highmast lighting invaded
their privacy.
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(pp36-7) |
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Hurt, K. and Budlender, D. (eds), 2001, Money Matters
Three: Women and Government Revenue, Cape Town: Idasa
The Fifth Women's Budget (2000) collection of papers on government
revenue is popularised here for non-specialists. The papers summarised
are on women and customs and excise, taxation, and local government revenue.
One example given shows that the system of personal tax income in South
Africa has changed to avoid explicit discrimination against women whereby
second earners in households (usually women) were taxed more heavily.
But changes to the tax system discriminated in other ways:
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A long path to gender equality
The system has changed now, and all earners are taxed as equal
individuals. But the new personal income tax system now discriminates
against households with only one income earner. This is especially
difficult for mothers who are single parents, and have to earn money
and look after their children.We can see the discrimination against
one-earner households if we compare two households with the same
number of adults and children, and the same total income. The old
and new tax systems are compared in the table:
Household One
Living in it: husband, wife, and their two children
Husband earns: R2 000 a month
Wife earns: R1 000 a month
Total: R3 000 a month
Household Two
Living in it: an employed woman, her two children and her non-employed
mother
Woman earns: R3 000 a month
Total: R3 000 a month
| Comparing two households |
| Households |
Old tax system - amount of annual tax to pay |
New tax system - amount of annual tax to pay |
| Household One |
R3 435 |
R850 |
| Household Two |
R5 055 |
R3 460 |
The first household pays less tax under the new system because
the husband and wife are taxed separately. They fall into a lower
tax category […] The woman in the second household has the
same number of people to support, but ends up paying over four times
the tax that the first household pays. This is because the household's
earner falls into a higher paying tax category as an individual.
Whilst the new system has removed explicit discrimination against
married women, it has not got rid of all discrimination. It has
not achieved gender equality.
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(pp27-28) |
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Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP), 1999, Budgeting
with a Gender Focus, Dar Es Salaam: TGNP
The Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP), an NGO committed to
women's empowerment, spent nearly three years tracing the process of national
planning and resource allocation, noting how it impacts on women and men,
youth and the elderly. As part of its Gender Budget Initiative, in 1999
TGNP produced a booklet, Budgeting with a Gender Focus, which popularises
its findings in four sectors: the ministries of finance, education, and
health plus the Planning Commission. The booklet shows the power that
all of these sectors have through the distribution of national resources
and calls attention to significant gender gaps, especially in health and
education.' (Quoted from Elson, D., 2002, 'Accountability for the progress
of women: women demanding action' in Elson, D., Progress of the World's
Women: UNIFEM Biennial Report, New York: UNDP p120).
This book can be purchased from TGNP directly, or alternatively, this
book is available from Women, Ink. Please see Networking and Contact details
for more information.
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