Who Pays the Price? Gender Inequality and Sovereign Debt
Who Pays the Price? Gender Inequality and Sovereign Debt
May 4, 2026
Who Pays the Price? is a comprehensive study on the relationship between sovereign debt and gender inequality. Produced under UNDP's EQUANOMICS initiative, the research analysed data from 85 developing countries between 1990 and 2022. It finds that when countries move from moderate to high debt servicing, the equivalent of 55 million women's jobs are at stake and maternal mortality increases by 32.5 per cent, equivalent to 67 additional deaths per 100,000 live births.