Relevance and promising measurement approaches:
While progressive taxation such as income tax ensures that the wealthiest pay more, regressive taxation, such as VAT, is payable by consumers – very often the women who buy household basics. With women earning less than men, VAT and other regressive forms of taxation can cut into their already reduced resources.
Oxfam’s CRI is the first Index to measure the commitment of governments to reducing the gap between the rich and the poor, including through progressive tax policies. The CRI Index in 2017 used a ‘tax potential’ measure of tax effort across several development measures. The International Centre for Tax and Development (ICTD) also tracks taxation in developing countries, and particularly in Africa, including a focus on the gender implications of taxes paid. The ICTD’s online tools survey the representation of women in African tax administrations and the differing impacts of taxation on men and women.
Relevance and promising measurement approaches:
Inclusive trade policies can advance gender equality through gender-related assessments of trade measures or the inclusion of gender stipulations, i.e. increasing women’s economic participation. The Peru Free Trade Agreement includes a mechanism on the “development of programmes on gender issues, including the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.” Trade reforms that do not include gender provisions can exacerbate gender inequalities, as women may lack access to the new jobs created as well as markets.
At the 2017 WTO Ministerial Conference, 118 WTO members and observers agreed to support the Joint Declaration on Trade and Women’s Economic Empowerment, which aims to increase gender responsiveness in trade policies. Other promising approaches include UNCTAD’s methodology for gender-related assessments of trade reforms. The European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs and the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality track gender provisions in EU trade agreements and advocate for gender equality objectives in new trade agreements. Yet, as of January 2018 only 20% of EU trade agreements mention women’s rights.