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Working paper 568
The politics of gender-responsive
social protection
Rebecca Holmes, Nicola Jones and Pilar Domingo
November 2019
• Social protection coverage for women of working age, and for children and adolescents
– especially in Africa, Asia and the Pacific – has improved over the past two decades but
nevertheless remains limited.
Key messages
• A gendered political economy analysis approach can help us to understand why and how
progress has (or has not) been made in promoting gender equality objectives in social protection
design, implementation and outcomes, and to identify entry points for priority action.
• Such an analysis requires us to explore the range of factors that affect decisions around resource
allocation, legal change and policy formulation. We have focused on the ‘three I’s’ (Rosendorff,
2005) – the institutions (formal and informal), the interests of key actors, and the ideas framing
social protection strategies and programmes.
• While each context is different, progress in advancing gender-responsive social protection is more
likely where: (1) there is a combination of pro-poor and inclusive national government institutions
and influential political elites championing gender-responsive social protection; (2) advocates
influence informal decision-making arenas and sub-national political institutions; (3) there is
a broad coalition of skilled and resourced actors; and (4) the framing of social protection goes
beyond seeing women as mothers and carers and instead as recipients of social protection in
their own right.Readers are encouraged to reproduce material for their own publications, as long as they are not being sold commercially. ODI requests due acknowledgement and a copy of the publication. For online use, we ask readers to link to the original resource on the ODI website. The views presented in this paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of ODI or our partners. This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Francesca Bastagli from the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), Naomi
Hossain from Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and Roopa Hinton from the UK Government’s
Department for International Development (DFID) for insightful peer review comments, and to Evan
Easton-Calabria for research support. We also wish to thank Kathryn O’Neill for expert editorial
support and Roni Lee for programme management.
This paper was funded by DFID’s Gender-Responsive Social Protection (GSP) programme, which
aims to enhance outcomes for the most marginalised women and girls from social protection and
gender equality programmes and policies globally. The views in this paper are the authors’ and do not
necessarily reflect those of DFID or ODI.
3Contents
Acknowledgements3
List of boxes and figures 5
Acronyms6
Executive summary 7
1 Introduction 11
2 Taking stock of progress in promoting gender-responsive social protection 12
2.1 Coverage gaps 12
2.2 Addressing gendered risks and vulnerabilities across the life course 13
3 Conceptualising a gendered political economy approach to social protection 15
4 Political economy analysis 16
4.1 Institutions 16
4.2 Interests 21
4.3 Ideas 28
5 Conclusions and policy implications 33
References38
4List of boxes and figures
Boxes
Box 1 Institutions analysis – key points 16
Box 2 Defining institutions 17
Box 3 Interests analysis – key points 21
Box 4 The role of international NGOs in influencing social protection policy and programming 24
Box 5 Strategies used by women’s groups to influence policy 26
Box 6 Mexico’s flagship subsidised childcare system and links with civil society 27
Box 7 Ideas analysis – key points 28
Box 8 Framing social protection through a human rights lens, but not a gender lens 29
Box 9 The invisibility of adolescents in social protection rights discourse 30
Figures
Figure 1 Five priority actions 35
5Acronyms
BISP Benazir Income Support Programme
CCT conditional cash transfer
CSO civil society organisation
ILO International Labour Organization
LEAP Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty
LMICs low- and middle-income countries
M&E monitoring and evaluation
MGNREGS Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme
NGO non-governmental organisation
PSNP Productive Safety Net Programme
SDG Sustainable Development Goal
WIEGO Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing
6Executive summary
The past decade has seen considerable progress promoting gender equality and empowerment
in advancing gender equality and women’s outcomes, and to identify entry points for action.
and girls’ empowerment in low- and middle- We explore the factors that affect decisions
income countries (LMICs), particularly in around resource allocation, legal change and
health, education and political representation. policy formulation using Rosendorff’s (2005)
Social protection has also risen up the policy ‘three I’s’: the institutions (formal and informal),
agenda, with many countries now implementing the interests of key actors, and the ideas framing
programmes to reduce poverty and establishing social protection strategies and programmes.
strategies to drive a coherent national social
protection agenda. Institutions
However, social protection programmes –
especially in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Our findings suggest that engagement across
Asia and the Pacific – initially paid little attention a range of institutions – from the national to
to men’s and women’s different needs, and how the local level – is key to promoting gender-
these could be addressed through programme responsive social protection. However, evidence
design and implementation. While over the on the role of different institutional arenas
past decade there has been increasing attention is patchy, particularly around challenges and
to gender in social protection programming, opportunities for influence in different types
coverage for women of working age, and for of political regimes and within the judicial
children and adolescents, remains low. Moreover, arena. Emerging evidence shows that three key
where gender equality is a consideration in institutional arenas hold important potential for
social protection policy discourse, it is often advancing gender-responsive social protection:
limited to targeting women as a vulnerable
group, or in their role as mothers or caregivers. •• Sub-national institutional processes: social
While social protection programmes could be protection policy is usually designed centrally
transformational and contribute to women’s by national government, whereas there are
and girls’ empowerment, they rarely explicitly often stronger links between women being
aim to do so. elected to local representative and decision-
Why has social protection made only limited making roles that champion social policy
progress in achieving transformational change? issues. Moreover, local elections are perceived
To answer this question, we need to move as opportunities to hold officials directly
beyond discussions around technical design to account. The challenge, therefore, is to
and implementation features to understand the integrate sub-national political activism
political economy factors that either support or on gender with national social protection
hinder a gendered approach. To date, however, policy processes.
gender-responsive social protection has remained •• Informal institutions: Resource allocation
disconnected from discussions about the political decisions are usually made through informal
economy of gender relations. rather than formal institutions, with less
This paper analyses social protection visible decision-making processes. Yet gender
policy and programming through a gendered equality activists, and particularly women
political economy lens, to understand why and politicians, often face challenges engaging in
how progress has (or has not) been made in these arenas. More opportunities are needed
7to access these spaces, including working at especially in sub-Saharan Africa and some parts
the local level with ‘gatekeepers’ of gendered of Asia and the Pacific, where programming is
social norms (such as religious leaders), heavily dependent on external funding. As such,
and to navigate practices of clientelism and these agencies’ interests in promoting gender-
patronage that may shape resource responsive policies are critical to mainstreaming
allocation decisions. gender concerns in social protection. Progress
•• The legislature: The extent to which the has been uneven though, and some of the key
legislature shapes social protection policy players in social protection have been criticised
varies by context. In much of Africa, for for their limited approach to gender. In cases
example, social protection programmes where gender equality has been mainstreamed,
are heavily driven by the executive branch. it has often reinforced notions of women as a
However, legislative politics – nationally ‘vulnerable’ group and as caregivers, aiming
and globally – have potential to embed to improve outcomes for children rather than
gender-responsive features within a social women. The challenge is to enable the ideas
protection legal framework. Establishing and interests promoted through international
and implementing a gender-responsive institutions to also be realised at national levels.
legal framework requires fostering Domestic civil society actors have been
strategic alliances between women political influential in social protection programming
representatives and feminist movements more generally – particularly in Latin America
and women’s groups at both national and and South Asia – but less so in influencing a
international levels. It also necessitates gender-responsive social protection agenda.
investing in technical knowledge among There are notable exceptions, however, where
gender equality activists of relevant laws issue-based women’s movements have mobilised
and legislative and policy processes. around their work identity to demand higher
wages, workers’ rights, and access to social
security. There have also been efforts to promote
Interests access to childcare, to extend social insurance
and social assistance for women in the informal
The trade-offs in policy choices, the politics sector, and to help women access public works
of who is likely to gain or lose from policy programmes. Some civil society movements have
shifts, and the balance of power between actors succeeded in bridging the local and national
all influence how stakeholders promote their divide by improving working conditions at
interests through social protection. Our findings the local level and engaging in negotiations in
highlight how political elites use the roll-out national policy spaces. Factors constraining
of social protection programmes to strengthen women’s movements’ influence on social
their legitimacy and hold on power, yet, with few protection policies include internal divisions,
exceptions, they have not had strong incentives the localisation of civil society so that women’s
to push for gender-responsive social protection. movement actors are less visible in national
There are opportunities to do so, especially policy dialogues, and limited resources.
through elected women representatives. Evidence
shows that women’s political interests tend Ideas
to focus on legal and social reforms affecting
women. While these efforts have largely Social protection systems reflect a wide range of
remained outside the social protection sector, ideas about poverty and vulnerability and the
there are some examples of elected political elites role of the state in addressing these issues – ideas
at the national and sub-national levels promoting that also reflect prevailing gendered social norms.
gender reforms in social protection, including For example, social assistance programmes are
pensions and maternity benefits. often framed around women as mothers and
Donors and international agencies are also carers, while pension policy often reflects beliefs
influential actors in the social protection arena, around men as breadwinners.
8Our findings suggest that although rights- Policy implications
based discourses are gaining traction in gender
and social protection debates internationally, Our analysis of the ‘three I’s’ shows that
these are rarely translated into national formal and informal institutional arenas and
social protection strategies and policies. networks, the interests of various actors and the
This partly reflects the technocratic nature ideas framing social protection strategies and
of social protection debates as well as the programmes all represent sites for contestation
lack of engagement of civil society actors in regarding legal change and policy and resource
dialogues. Women’s rights have also been allocation decisions that shape how social
disconnected from the human rights discourse protection addresses (or fails to address) gender
on social protection – partly due to the equality and women’s and girls’ empowerment.
fragmented nature of mainstreaming gender While few social protection programmes
in international commitments such as the now ignore gender inequalities altogether,
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and programming still tends to focus on women as
social protection floors. Efforts have tended to a ‘vulnerable’ group or as mothers and carers,
focus on helping women to cope better with the rather than explicitly aiming to address gender
existing gendered household division of labour, inequalities and empower women and girls.
rather than transforming gendered social norms Most interventions continue to ignore the gender
or advancing women’s equal right to social dynamics that underpin how men and women,
protection from the state. and boys and girls experience and respond to
We also find that human capital development poverty and vulnerability. They also ignore the
discourses about social protection (centring on discrimination and disadvantage that women and
the first 1,000 days of life and on education) girls face throughout the life course.
tend to dominate policy dialogues and cash Applying a political economy analysis to
transfer programming. Overall, there is limited understand how these policy decisions are shaped
attention to the multidimensional gender- helps us to move beyond the technocratic design
specific vulnerabilities across the life course, and implementation features of social protection
including in adolescence and early adulthood. programming, to look at the political processes
More recently, some programming modalities that promote or hinder a more gender-responsive
have sought to advance human capital by approach. Our analysis highlights the following
addressing the specific vulnerabilities facing points:
adolescent girls, and incentivising behaviour
change (e.g. cash transfers to keep young girls in •• Institutional spaces tend to mirror the nature
secondary school or to incentivise girls to avoid of the underlying political context in terms
risky sexual behaviours). of how inclusive they are, and whether
Finally, ideas about the role of social they offer opportunities for gender equality
protection in contributing to productive activists to drive more gender-responsive
activities and community assets (e.g. through social protection agendas.
public works programmes) have tended to •• There are few political incentives to promote
assume a male adult worker in the household. a more transformative agenda and to address
Even where schemes do conceptualise assets social protection within wider debates about
in more innovative and gender-aware ways, social justice, inclusion and the redistribution
implementation is often weak. For example, of resources. This is largely because gender-
where gendered social norms preclude responsive social protection has not provided
women from doing certain agricultural tasks a solution to urgent threats to political
(e.g. ploughing), public works schemes have legitimacy, nor has the social protection
sometimes provided labour as a means of agenda proved to be a policy tool that
reducing poverty among female-headed political elites can mobilise around at critical
households. junctures for promoting gender equality.
9•• The extent to which gender-responsive social •• Actors able to frame social protection in
protection is promoted depends on the national and sub-national debates to address
interests and strategies of a wide range of the specific risks and vulnerabilities facing
actors and institutions. Even where interests women and girls, and to promote a more
are aligned, gender equality activists may rights-based, transformative agenda for
not be able to influence social protection social change.
policy if they lack resources and have limited
influencing power. To advance gender and social protection,
•• Prevailing ideas within national social we propose that donors and development
protection systems about poverty, partners explicitly adopt a transformative social
vulnerability and the role of social protection protection agenda. We propose five key actions to
in promoting a more gender-transformative enable social protection actors to engage in more
agenda shape programme design and politically savvy ways to improve the design and
implementation. They also shape the extent impact of gender-responsive social protection
to which social protection is seen as a means programming:
to tackle gender inequalities or promote
empowerment and more gender-equitable 1. Map social protection and gender equality
relations. actors and institutions in each context,
including their influencing power, interests
Notwithstanding these constraints, there and strategies, to identify strategic entry
are important avenues and opportunities points for engagement, particularly at sub-
for promoting a more transformative social national and informal institutional levels.
protection agenda. While each country 2. Engage more strategically with political
context is unique, the following features and economists and governance actors to inform
approaches stand out as contributing to more and promote politically savvy negotiations
gender-responsive social protection across about gender-responsive social protection
the life course: design and implementation.
3. Invest in capacity-building with programme
•• The combination of pro-poor and inclusive implementers to deliver gender-responsive
national government institutions and design features and to promote buy-in to
influential political elites advocating for deliver gender-transformative programming.
gender-responsive social protection, and 4. Support gender-focused civil society
engaging in sub-national and informal arenas. organisations to skilfully engage in national
•• A coalition of actors – from government, and local social protection dialogues and
donors and development partners to civil amplify their voices.
society – advocating for gender-responsive 5. Ensure that all evaluations of social
social protection, sustained over time, and protection programmes routinely adopt a
ready to take advantage of any opening up of gender and lifecycle lens to identify gaps
policy spaces. and gains, measuring not just transformative
impacts but also transformative intent.
101 Introduction
Over the past decade, there has been substantial Despite some of the positive effects of social
progress in advancing gender equality and protection in delivering more gender-equitable
women’s and girls’ empowerment in LMICs, outcomes, there is concern that policy and
particularly in health, education and political programming neglects gender issues across
representation. There is now a growing body of the life course, from girls’ heightened risk of
evidence which demonstrates that well-designed gender-based violence and mobility restrictions
and implemented social protection programming during adolescence, to women’s unequal access
can support gender equality outcomes and, to pensions in older age (Jones et al., 2016;
in some cases, promote women’s and girls’ Molyneux et al., 2018). This leads to a gap
empowerment across the life course (Kabeer, between social protection programming and
2010; Holmes and Jones, 2013; Cookson, 2018). women’s and girls’ social and economic needs
Yet despite this progress, strong gender (Sholkamy, 2017). There also remain significant
inequalities persist. In many countries there is a gaps in social protection coverage for women
backlash against women’s rights, and women’s and girls (across the spectrum of programming).
rights groups are suffering from shrinking The benefits received and the types of gender-
influencing space and resources. A recent based exclusion addressed are also inadequate
report shows that with the resurgence of to meet women’s and girls’ needs at different life
conservative ruling coalitions, many parts of stages. The lack of attention to gender equality
the world have seen restricted funding for issues in policy design and implementation
women’s groups, redirecting their focus to reinforces gender inequalities, perpetuating
women’s roles as carers rather than political poverty and vulnerability among women
actors (Wassholm, 2018). and girls.
This has had particularly negative effects Over the past decade, various programming
for the poorest and most vulnerable women innovations have tried to address these
in countries most affected by these trends. For gaps. There is now evidence on what types
example, recent studies show that poor women of social protection programming work to
and girls experience multiple deprivations improve coverage for women and girls, and
and discrimination based on their gender which features of programme design and
and intersecting inequalities (Munoz Boudet implementation can best support and promote
et al., 2018). Women are disproportionately gender-equitable outcomes. However, much of
represented in the informal economy in low-paid the discussion on closing these gaps has focused
or unpaid and irregular work; they have less on technical aspects such as targeting, the value,
access to income and assets; and they shoulder duration and timing of transfers, and access to
a disproportionate amount of the unpaid care grievance mechanisms. Discussions have also
work that sustains families. During adolescence, focused on meeting women’s immediate and
younger girls become increasingly subject practical needs, framing women firmly within
to conservative social norms that limit their their traditional roles as mothers and carers.
mobility, reduce their access to education and Yet discussions have largely ignored the crucial
employment, and render them more vulnerable political economy factors that can help
to sexual and gender-based violence (Harper (or hinder) a more transformative gender-
et al., 2018; Baird et al., forthcoming). responsive approach.
112 Taking stock of
progress in promoting
gender-responsive social
protection
Progress towards gender equality and women’s Women, 2015), although the exact gender gap
and girls’ empowerment is context-specific and is not known.
influenced by many factors. This section provides There has, however, been progress in reducing
an overview of progress on gender-responsive gender coverage gaps in particular programmes
social protection programming, highlighting and countries. Some countries have closed
specific programmes, regions and countries where the gender gap in pensions, and some have
progress has been most notable or most absent. achieved universal pension coverage through
This paper draws on the definition of social non-contributory pensions (also called social
protection as ‘public and private initiatives that pensions, typically paid to people aged 65 and
provide income or consumption transfers to the above). While non-contributory pensions tend to
poor, protect the vulnerable against livelihood offer smaller benefits (see below), they do provide
risks and enhance the social status and rights some basic income security in old age for women
of the marginalised’ (Devereux and Sabates- and men who have either worked in the informal
Wheeler, 2004: i). Typically, such programmes economy or done unpaid work, rendering
include social assistance (targeted transfers or them ineligible for formal labour force benefits
benefits, public works programmes) and social (ibid.). As the Bolivian state came to define
insurance schemes. itself as ‘plurinational’, policy changes included
increasing the proportion of older women
2.1 Coverage gaps receiving the non-contributory pension Renta
Dignidad; now, women beneficiaries significantly
Despite the growing popularity of social outnumber men (83.3% versus 66.3%) (ILO,
protection globally, there remain significant 2017). Social pensions have also been rolled
gaps in coverage. Recent International Labour out in Lesotho, Nepal, Thailand, Bangladesh,
Organization (ILO) figures suggest that only India and South Africa, though coverage varies
45% of people are effectively covered by at significantly (from 85% in Lesotho to 35% in
least one social protection benefit; a large Bangladesh) (PensionWatch, n.d).
majority (71% or 5.2 billion people) are either Non-contributory pensions tend to pay lower
not covered or only partially covered (ILO, benefits, which are often insufficient to support
2017). Women are more likely to lack access to older persons to escape poverty (ILO, 2017).
social protection; their lower representation in However, they do tend to benefit lower-income
contributory social protection schemes reflects groups, including women, who are less likely to
their lower labour force participation rates (UN receive any other type of pension (Arza, 2015).
12Evidence from South Africa’s Older Person’s Insurance Scheme introduced in 2003 aims to
Grant, for example – which has a relatively deliver universal health insurance coverage and
high transfer value – shows positive impacts on ensure equitable access to healthcare. By 2013,
poverty reduction and improving the status of 38% of Ghanaians were enrolled and 58%
women in rural households, as well as benefiting of them women (National Health Insurance
granddaughters through improved health and Authority, 2013). However, despite providing
nutrition (Arza, 2015; Duflo, 2003). free insurance to the poor through the Livelihood
However, social protection coverage for Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) cash
women of working age and for children and transfer programme, coverage rates among the
adolescents – especially in Africa and Asia and poor are low. Overall, evidence on women’s
the Pacific – remains limited (ILO, 2017; Jones coverage by health schemes and their impacts
et al., 2019). Globally, only 41.1% of mothers across the Global South is still sparse (Holmes
with newborns receive a maternity benefit, while and Scott, 2016).
83 million new mothers receive no state support
(ILO, 2017). There has been some progress on 2.2 Addressing gendered risks and
this front in the Americas, where more than two- vulnerabilities across the life course
thirds of children, pregnant women and mothers
of newborns are covered by social protection As well as coverage gaps, there are concerns
cash benefits (ibid.). Uruguay has achieved that social protection programming does not
universal maternity coverage, with Argentina, adequately address the specific needs of women
Colombia, Mongolia and South Africa also and girls across their lives. There is wide
making significant progress towards this (ibid.). variation in the extent to which social protection
Moving away from social protection schemes take into consideration gendered risks
programming that supports women and girls and vulnerabilities, linked to women’s unpaid
in their traditional roles, conditional cash care and domestic responsibilities, reproductive
transfers (CCTs) to support girls’ education and health needs, and the broader discriminatory
delay marriage have been expanded in India, gendered social norms and practices that affect
Turkey, and some Latin American countries (de women’s and girls’ daily lives.
Walque et al., 2017). However, millions of girls There has been progress in incorporating
from vulnerable households still have no social gender equality considerations in pensions – for
protection support (UNGEI, 2014). example, recognising women’s differentiated
Public works schemes are another key career patterns and the impact of this on income
social protection intervention for people of security in old age. As a result, some countries
working age, but women have often been have taken proactive measures to embed gender-
unable to participate due to lack of childcare. responsive social protection, such as crediting
Recently, some schemes have attempted to pension accounts during maternity leave in
increase women’s participation through gender Chile, and establishing appropriate paternity
quotas and on-site childcare provision. India’s and parental leave (UN Women, 2015; ILO,
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment 2017). However, these policies mainly benefit
Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and South formal sector workers; the expansion of non-
Africa’s Expanded Public Works Programme contributory pensions to workers in the informal
have approximately 48% and 62% of female sector is clearly a priority for LMICs.
participants respectively (UN Women, 2015). Public works schemes in Ethiopia, India and
Some countries have also expanded social Rwanda have included design features such as
insurance to cover workers in the informal sector, gender quotas, creches at work sites, flexible
though significant gaps remain. In Brazil, for working times, direct support for pregnant and
example, the proportion of domestic workers nursing women, equal wages, and representation
contributing social security payments increased in supervisory roles – all of which can enhance
from 18% in 1993 to 30% in 2007 (Addati and women’s participation and outcomes. However,
Cheong, 2013). In Ghana, the National Health implementation routinely lags behind progressive
13design features; together with inadequate levels features that have contributed to improved
of benefits, this may limit women’s access to outcomes, such features are still not routinely
schemes and limit outcomes. integrated into policy and programme design.
CCTs – popular in many Latin American Few programmes aim to transform gender
countries – are often perceived as gender- relations or have equality or empowerment
responsive if they target women. Yet they have as their core objectives. Despite greater
been criticised for the tendency to reinforce recognition of women’s unequal care burden, few
gender stereotypes and for placing additional programmes set out to address and transform
burdens on women’s time (Molyneux, 2007; gender relations at the household or community
Cookson, 2018). levels. This means that social protection largely
Clearly, programming needs to do more continues to neglect the important effects of
than simply target women. Evidence suggests intra-household power relations, resource
that programmes must address women’s and allocation, gendered social norms and women’s
girls’ specific social and economic needs from unequal access to economic resources.
the outset if they are to deliver more gender- While there is increasing evidence on the
equitable outcomes (Holmes and Jones, 2013). politics of the expansion of social assistance
In particular, social protection programming can in developing countries in general (Hickey et
contribute to women’s empowerment, especially al., 2015), it lacks a gendered lens. Likewise,
if situated within a broader social policy system recent work on the politics of gender in inclusive
that addresses women’s rights and needs – for development policies has not focused on social
example, through provision of basic services, protection (Nazneen and Masud, 2017). This
education, training, credit, childcare, and long- leaves a significant knowledge gap on the
term income security (UN Women, 2015). politics of gender-responsive social protection
However, progress has been limited, with programming. Specifically, there is limited
few social protection programmes designed to understanding of the political processes that
explicitly promote women’s empowerment by influence choices around the type of social
strengthening agency, voice and participation. protection model adopted in a given context,
Exceptions include Pakistan’s Benazir Income and the extent to which this model aims to meet
Support Programme (BISP), which targets women’s and girls’ practical needs or takes a
women as heads of households, and where more transformative approach.
the requirement for national identity has This working paper aims to start filling this
enabled women to gain voting rights, and knowledge gap. We argue that taking a gendered
improved their financial literacy and inclusion. political economy approach is important to
BISP participants are also mobilised to form understand what drives gender-responsive social
committees to demand improvements in local protection and to identify opportunities to build
services, and initiatives have included exposure a more gender-transformative agenda, as well as
to female role models (BISP, n.d). In Egypt, the recognising key barriers. Based on a review of
Takaful programme (a CCT launched in 2015) existing literature, it provides an analysis of the
aims to contest traditional gender roles around critical political processes for gender-responsive
caring responsibilities, instead focusing support social protection. It also identifies bottlenecks
to women’s productive roles. It also aims to and opportunities for integrating gender equality
strengthen women’s agency through encouraging and empowerment into social protection policies
their participation in paid employment, and systems. Finally, we provide a framework for
transferring cash directly to women through those working on gender and social protection
their personal bank accounts, and encouraging to further identify and understand these political
their involvement in programme governance and economy dimensions, to help them develop a
monitoring (Sholkamy, 2011; El-Didi et al., 2018). plan of action to overcome barriers and promote
To sum up, although many social protection a politically smarter way of working on social
programmes have integrated gender-responsive protection and gender.
143 Conceptualising
a gendered political
economy approach to
social protection
Understanding policy and programming legislature, the judiciary, informal politics).
challenges from a gendered political economy This means the rules of social, political and
perspective requires a detailed look at how the economic interaction, and the opportunities
market, political and economic institutions, and and constraints they present for negotiating
gendered social norms and practices all interact social protection policies and programmes.
with and shape each other to influence policy •• Interests of key actors who are likely to gain
decisions. A political economy analysis can shed or lose from policy shifts (such as political
light on how international development policy elites, bureaucratic agencies, donors or civil
decisions are made through domestic political society ‘champions’) and the relative balance
processes, and on competing interest groups and of power between them. This includes power
their relative power in shaping social policy and imbalances between different ministries
outcomes (Holmes and Jones, 2013). (such as finance/economics and social
Development policy and programming choices welfare, the latter often being among the
are, in practice, political outcomes. They are weakest), and wider social and political
the result of a process of bargaining between interests.
the state and diverse actors (including civil •• Ideas held by elites and the public reflecting
society organisations (CSOs) and groups, non- prevailing beliefs about poverty and its root
government organisations (NGOs), donors and causes, the social contract between the state
development partners, and other interest groups). and citizens, and the merits of particular
They are also the result of interactions between forms of social policy or nationally led
formal and informal institutions (Helmke and programmes. This may include notions of the
Levitsky, 2004), and of the interplay between ‘deserving poor’, concerns about ‘dependency’
institutions and the role of ideas in shaping and attitudes towards inequality and social
policy and programming objectives (Steinmo fragmentation (Hickey, 2009).
et al., 1992). One way to analyse the policy
processes and decisions around social protection We frame our analysis of the three I’s using
and gender is to look across the ‘three I’s’ a gender lens to explore how actors at the
of political economy (Rosendorff, 2005): household, community and national levels
institutions, interests and ideas: influence – and are influenced by – gendered
social norms, and how these structures and
•• Institutions or institutional arenas (for processes influence policy decisions and
example, elections and party politics, the outcomes (Elson and Cagatay, 2000).
154 Political economy
analysis
4.1 Institutions
Box 1 Institutions analysis – key points
•• There are opportunities for activists and international actors to strategically engage across a
range of different institutional arenas and networks – from the global to the sub-national, and
from formal to informal – to make social protection policy and programmes more gender-
responsive.
•• The sub-national institutional arena is a key area in which to advance more gender-responsive
approaches to social protection, as local-level political processes offer important opportunities
for engagement through locally elected officials (often meaning greater representation of
women), and mechanisms for holding officials to account for delivering their social protection
commitments.
•• Resource allocation decisions are most often made through informal rather than formal
institutions. This means that international actors also need to engage with less visible decision-
making processes at national or sub-national levels. This includes working with ‘gatekeepers’
of social norms (such as religious leaders), and taking account of practices of clientelism and
patronage that may shape decisions on resource allocation.
•• There are significant evidence gaps, especially around the effects of political regimes and
judicial institutional arenas on shaping the design, implementation and outcomes of gender-
responsive social protection. These need to be addressed through well-designed research.
To better understand how social protection the potential for transformational change that
measures are negotiated to be gender responsive, advances women’s empowerment (Holmes and
we must distinguish between the different Jones, 2013).
institutional spaces where decision-making There are two key questions about how
takes place, where legal and policy content and institutions affect the design and impact of social
implementation processes are negotiated, and the protection in relation to gender:
gendered effects these processes give rise to (see
Box 2). Different institutional systems can either •• How do institutional features enable and
enable or constrain gender equality activists’ constrain gender equality activists’ agency
political voice in framing social protection and role in shaping social protection
narratives, and their access to decision-making objectives, implementation processes and
on legal change, policy, programming and outcomes?
practice. Crucially, institutions at all levels •• How can social protection measures enhance
(global, national and sub-national) can determine women’s voice and agency, and their capacity
16Box 2 Defining institutions
By institutions, we refer to the ‘relatively enduring features of political and social life
(rules, norms and procedures) that structure behaviour and cannot be changed easily or
instantaneously’ (Mahoney and Thelen, 2010: 4). Institutions can be formal or informal.
Waylen (2014) underlines the importance of informal institutions in shaping social, political and
economic life, in predictable if less visible ways than formal institutions. Thus, efforts to advance
gender equality and women’s voice and agency often require navigating and contesting the web
of informal rules and norms that sustain gender inequalities, even when formal gains in gender-
responsive social policy or women’s rights have been achieved.
to contest and redefine institutional spaces, in case-specific and patchy. There are, however, a
ways that advance women’s empowerment? number of key inter-related points:
Building on the work of Holmes and Jones •• As well as the formal features of regime types,
(2013), we consider the following institutional the nature of the prevailing elite bargain or
arenas: regime type, electoral, legislative and political settlement defines how economic,
judicial space, and executive branch and state political and social power and resources
agencies in charge of implementing or overseeing are distributed and sustained (Khan, 2010;
social protection measures. In all of these Hickey and Lavers, 2015; Hickey et al.,
arenas, we find informal institutions (rules and 2018). The ruling political settlement thus
practices) shaping how decision-making actually reflects the nature of dominant power
happens, how power is distributed, and who has relations, interest structures, ideas and beliefs
access, presence and influence in shaping policy, about social justice, and the institutions that
implementation and outcomes. sustain this.
•• Progress requires strategic engagement with
4.1.1 Political regime and developmental the existing political settlement, addressing
pathways formal and informal institutions and rules to
There appears to be a strong correlation between overcome resistance to progressive change
established democracies and sustainable inclusive (Domingo and O’Neil, 2016). However, there
social policy systems, although the causal links in is limited evidence on the political economy
this relationship remain contentious (Hickey et of how gender equality activists and women
al., 2015). However, regime type and the quality navigate and contest informal institutions
of democratic governance matters, as does how relating (for instance) to clientelism, and
the distribution of power and resources has been what effect this has on advancing gender
contested and defined over time. We know that justice (Nazneen and Mahmud, 2015). This
the mere presence of formal democratic politics is true across different policy areas; yet there
is not, in itself, an indicator of progressive social are major evidence gaps on the political
policy regimes (Hickey and Lavers, 2015). At settlement and gender-responsive social
the same time, the formal rules on political voice policy.
and contestation of power are important in •• There is clear evidence that advancing
shaping the prospects for inclusive development. gender equality through formal policy or
This is also true for the rules about women’s legal change matters, both for practical gains
involvement in decision-making processes and and in amplifying women’s political voice.
the achievement of gender justice (Htun and This can have a catalytic effect on women’s
Weldon, 2018). empowerment and generate new institutional
Overall, the evidence on how political regimes and political opportunities to negotiate more
shape social protection, and who is involved in inclusive forms of development (Htun and
driving gender-responsive social policy, remains Weldon, 2018). Opportunities for change
17may be unleashed at critical junctures (such programme (Amuzu et al., 2010; Holmes and
as peace processes, regime transition or Jones, 2013).
constitutional reforms) or during progressive Nazneen and Mahmud (2015) signal a
change processes. stronger evidence base on sub-national electoral
•• How any expansion of social protection politics in relation to policies supporting
is politically negotiated – and its gendered gender equality. As noted in section 4.2, there
content and impact – is highly specific to is a relationship between women being elected
context and history. Htun and Weldon (2018) to local representative and decision-making
highlight the importance of understanding roles that champion social policy issues, and
how institutional change and the politics the provision of public goods. At the sub-
of contestation interact to enable women national level, local elections may be perceived
to advance their rights and promote more as opportunities to hold officials to account
gender-inclusive societies (Holmes and on social protection, as in the case of Bolsa
Jones, 2013).1 Familia beneficiaries in Brazil (Sugayama, 2016).
Evidence from Colombia’s CCT, Familias en
4.1.2 Electoral arena Accion, finds that those receiving cash transfers
Electoral processes are important opportunities were more likely to cast a ballot (in the 2010
for gender equality activists to mobilise political presidential elections) (Conover et al., 2019). For
pressure (see also section 4.2, ‘Interests’). women, this corresponded to a 2.8% increase
However, evidence on how electoral politics in average turnout, while for men it was 1.5%.
relates to the gender dimension of social policy Women receiving the transfer were also more
(and particularly social protection) is thin. This is likely to vote for the incumbent party candidate
also true of how different electoral systems affect (who supported the cash transfer) (ibid.).
women politicians’ conduct in relation to social There is also some evidence that politically
protection (again, see section 4.2 below). empowered women at community level –
Holmes and Jones (2013) cite Mexico’s including women who may have benefited from
Estancias Infantiles (Federal Daycare Programme social protection programmes – are more likely
for Working Mothers) as a good example of to mobilise politically and use electoral moments
activists using elections to obtain policy gains. to advance local public goods (Asaki and Hayes,
Estancias was introduced in 2007 to help women 2011; Nazneen and Mahmud, 2015). This is
enter the labour market, providing care to more because women often have more opportunities
than 330,000 children by 2012. However, as to assume leadership positions in local rather
Box 6 (section 4.2.4) highlights, the programme than national politics (Domingo et al., 2015).
was curtailed in 2019 while undergoing a major Moreover, the empowering effect of social
policy review under the new presidency of protection measures may enhance the prospects
Andrés Manuel López Obrador. for beneficiary women to become politically
Electoral politics can also distort how social active in sub-national politics. They may also go
protection is perceived, which in turn affects on to form strategic alliances with activists in
implementation. In Ghana, for example, the local CSOs and NGOs that become involved in
LEAP programme was politicised during the local electoral agendas (see below).
election campaign in 2008, resulting in uneven While cash transfers can increase trust in
implementation: opposition party supporters local government, it is not clear that this trust
in some locations chose not to participate in translates into changes in political activity
the programme, perceiving that they would be among beneficiary groups (Evans et al., 2018;
seen as supporting the government, but after Babajanian et al., 2014). In contrast to the
the election they were unable to register for the evidence from Colombia (mentioned earlier),
1 Reviews of the evidence signal a highly uneven knowledge base about how social policy that advances women’s rights and
women’s empowerment is negotiated through the political system in its design and implementation, and with what effect
in terms of advancing women’s empowerment (Nazneen and Mahmud, 2015; Domingo et al., 2016).
18a study from Tanzania’s pilot CCT found that norms and policies upholding social and
after more than two years’ implementation, economic rights, and women’s rights and gender
beneficiaries were found to be more likely justice, is an additional enabling factor, providing
to report that local government leaders were political and reputational leverage in advocating
responsive to citizens’ concerns, but no more gender-responsive change (see also section 4.3,
likely to vote in village council elections or ‘Ideas’).
attend village council meetings (Evans et al., There are a number of examples where
2018). There were similar findings from a study feminist political activism has contributed to
in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India and Nepal revisions of laws on entitlements (Waylen, 2009;
(Babajanian et al., 2014) Rubio-Marin and Irving, 2019). Kenya’s recent
experience of constitutional reform – at least in
4.1.3 Legislative arena terms of content – is one such example. Women
As noted earlier, the wider political context legislators worked together across parties, in
will dictate the actual role of formal politics in alliance with the Federation of Women Lawyers
shaping political outcomes. The degree to which (FIDA), and in collaboration with the emerging
legislatures either actively negotiate policy or gender machinery, to secure substantive gains
mostly formalise and rubber-stamp deals struck for women and girls in the 2010 Constitution
through clientelism and patrimonial politics (Domingo et al., 2016). They also achieved
has been the subject of considerable research. subsequent and broader reforms, including tax
However, there is relatively little research from waivers for sanitary pads as a way to prevent
the perspective of female legislators’ conduct, and girls missing school. The advocacy work
in relation to advancing gender-responsive social included using the review of labour laws to push
policy or social protection agendas (Holmes and for an increase in maternity leave under the
Jones, 2013; Domingo et al., 2016). It is also the Employment Act of 2007.
case that the role of the legislature in shaping New constitutions (as in South Africa,
social policy may be less relevant – as in much of Colombia and Kenya) include more explicit
Africa, where social protection programmes are state commitments (as justiciable entitlements)
heavily driven by the executive branch. on social policy, women’s rights and gender
Generally speaking, the presence of more equality. This reflects a relatively recent move
women in legislative spaces is correlated with towards more explicitly normative commitments
more inclusive social policies (Htun and Weldon, at constitutional level designed to prevent
2018). However, evidence on causality remains venal electoral politics undermining state
elusive. There is now greater recognition of commitments.2 The realisation of such rights
the importance of intersectionality in shaping may, in practice, be limited, for reasons ranging
women’s political and ideological preferences from limited fiscal capacity and implementation
and loyalties, taking into account class, ethnicity, or law enforcement capabilities, to the true
religion, rural–urban divides, and ideology. nature of the ruling elite bargain, which
When feminist agendas are effectively deployed may not mirror ambitious constitutional
in legislative politics – where laws are made and promises.
policy choices articulated – they can help bring The emerging evidence suggests that technical
gender into debates and policies addressing social knowledge of the law and policy processes also
inclusion and redistributive measures. Strategic matters. Gender equality activism in support
alliances between women’s representatives and of legislative or policy change is more effective
feminist movements and women’s groups are when it can draw on technical capabilities
a consistently relevant factor. At the regional relating to legal expertise, and understanding of
and global levels, the expansion of international legislative procedures. Even when formal law
2 Essays in Williams (2009) underline the need to take account of intersectionality in shaping how political agendas among
women involved in constitutional reform processes evolve. In the case of Colombia, strategic litigation by women’s
movements and progressive rulings by the Constitutional Court have resulted in an affirmation of justiciable rights.
19may seem irrelevant to the lives of many women principles) justiciable in relation to social welfare
at sub-national level, and where state presence issues, including education, the right to food
is weak, gender-responsive social policy and and healthcare.
laws can provide an institutional framework for
social protection measures that are also gender- 4.1.5 Social protection systems, gender
responsive (Domingo et al., 2013). machinery and state bureaucracies
As with the previous arenas, it is important to
4.1.4 Judicial arena distinguish between national and sub-national
The judicial arena has traditionally been less levels when looking at where programming
influential in shaping social policy, largely decisions are made. This has implications for
because it has mostly been reactive. Courts do not which structures or bodies ‘own’ the process of
generally make policy, but may review whether identifying social protection needs and defining
policy design and implementation is in keeping programming objectives. This is also important
with normative orders, such as constitutions, for setting up mechanisms for coordination and
laws or international rights commitments. implementation, accountability, and monitoring
However, in recent decades, disadvantaged groups and evaluation (M&E) (Holmes and Jones,
have increasingly turned to the law to pursue 2013).
their social and economic rights. As laws and Two other factors are important: how social
constitutions have been reformed, the judicial protection programmes feature at national level
arena has become an increasingly relevant site or within the state system of service provision,
of contestation. As such, there is a burgeoning of and where responsibility lies for ensuring gender-
literature on how legal mobilisation and strategic sensitive orientation. In lower-income or fragile
litigation has been used by vulnerable groups, and conflict-affected settings with limited state
to varying effect, to challenge power asymmetries capacity or territorial presence, or where gender
and pursue social and economic gains machinery and gender-sensitive budgeting is
(Gauri and Brinks, 2008; Gloppen, 2011; absent or weakly structured, gender-responsive
Gianella et al., 2013, among others). social protection is often weaker (Holmes and
Social protection policy is rarely framed Jones, 2013; Jones and Holmes, 2010). Even in
in terms of rights-based approaches, so does Latin American countries where state capacity
not lend itself to judicial activism in the same is stronger (such as Mexico), strong gender
way that other areas of policy might do. In perspectives are not necessarily integrated
contexts where social protection is grounded into social policy design and implementation
in constitutional or legal frameworks (such (Pereznieto and Campos, 2010).
as India, Colombia, Brazil and South Africa), More systematic mapping of social protection
there are merits to using rights language to organisational mechanisms means considering
mobilise advocacy and judicial activism to the following questions: (1) What is the
hold states to account on their commitments to nature of the relationship between the state
women. Invoking legal framings of rights-based bodies responsible for national oversight and
citizenship also creates opportunities for women implementation of social protection programmes,
to exercise voice and agency (Sabates-Wheeler and the body (or bodies) tasked with monitoring
et al., 2017). any gender social protection component?
An example of this is in India where judicial (2) What is the nature of the relationship
activism in the Indian Supreme Court has between national and sub-national
made some constitutional principles (directive governance systems?3
3 Different types of federalism or decentralised state functions shape decision-making and budget and financial flows to
service delivery, with implications for the resourcing and implementation of social protection programming. For instance,
in Mexico, state-level governments run by parties in opposition to the national ruling party are not incentivised to
highlight the successes of gender-responsive social protection that can be attributed to federal government (Pereznieto and
Campos, 2010).
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