Gendering the crisis: austerity and the Covid-19 pandemic in Brazil

Ana Luíza Matos Oliveira () and Magali N. Alloatti ()
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Ana Luíza Matos Oliveira: FLACSO-Brazil
Magali N. Alloatti: Independent researcher

Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, 2022, vol. 39, issue 1, No 11, 203-224

Abstract: Abstract In this article, by showing that the burden of retrenchment in social spending in Brazil has been overwhelmingly borne by women, we assert that austerity is not gender neutral. Our research investigates the specificities of the gendered impacts of austerity in the country that have rendered Brazilian women structurally more vulnerable to the Covid-19 crisis. We base our argument on a comprehensive literature review summarizing the links between austerity and gender. In the Brazilian case, we explain women’s vulnerability in two main aspects: (1) the direct and indirect gendered impacts of austerity in Brazil since 2015, examining the underfunding of policies prior to the pandemic; (2) the gendered effects of the pandemic on already vulnerable groups, amplified by the underfunded policies and the lack of appropriate measures. We show points of proximity between the existing literature on austerity and gender in the Global North and the urgent, structural Brazilian problems.

Keywords: Austerity; Public policy; Gender inequality; Covid-19 pandemic; Brazil; Welfare (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D63 J16 N36 O54 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1007/s40888-021-00243-7

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