En el marc de l'informe que estic preparant per a la Comissió de Drets de les Dones i Igualtat d'Oportunitats en relació a l'impacte de gènere de la Crisi Financera i Econòmica (Gender Impact of the Economic and Financial Crisis) inicio una sèrie d'apunts en què aniré exposant el contingut de la meva proposta, la qual haurà de ser sotmesa a votació al Parlament Europeu. Els tres apunts següents tenen a veure amb la part explicatòria (descripció de motius i context), als quals seguirà una altra sèria d'apunts amb el contingut pròpiament dit de l'informe /incloent, per tant, els considerants i l'articulat, que és la part que la Comissió FEMM haurà de votar). Vull agrair de manera molt especial la feina feta per Elisabeth Horstkoetter en l'el.laboració del present text:
Explanatory statement: Gender impact of the economic and financial crisis
Introduction
The world economy is facing the most severe recession since the Great Depression. 'The global financial crisis has become a wider economic crisis. There has been a crash of the global financial system, speculative bubbles and wild swings in values attached to housing, stocks, commodities (including food and energy); over-financialisation of the economy with consequent instabilities, the bankruptcy and near-bankruptcy of banks and other major financial institutions, failure in the provision of credit to the 'real economy' with consequent detrimental effects on the real economy and the quality of people's lives'. Hundreds of millions of people have lost their jobs, their income, their savings and their homes.
Equality between women and men is one of the objectives of the European Union and must be an inherent part of all political responses. The initial crisis and subsequent recovery plans at European, national and international (G20) level however have failed to acknowledge, understand, analyse and rectify the gender impact of the crisis.
Gender inequality the cause and consequence of the financial and economic crisis
The financial and economic crisis is gendered in its nature and in its effects. All categories of the recovery policies are gendered: reform of the financial governance, supporting industrial sectors and companies, supporting labour markets; supporting investment; and supporting household purchasing power.
Women are under-represented in most financial decision-making. 'The governance of the financial architecture is gendered in the principles, aims, practices and knowledge base that underpin decisions; and in the composition of the governing bodies where there is a huge underrepresentation of women'. Not one governor of the central banks of the EU member States is a woman. Only one of the six members of the executive board of the governing council for the European Central Bank is a woman. All governance of the financial architecture is gendered in the principles, aims, practices and knowledge base that underpins decisions; and in the composition of the governing bodies where there is a hug under-representation.
To include women in financial decision making means to include different priorities and practices which may be advantageous to the social system as a whole as well as to women. One of these is their approach to risk taking. Others include their preferences for public service provision of education and health, which support not only gender equality but also long term development of human capital.
The face of the recession is a man's face. Press articles focus on striking men in industry, manufacturing plants closing down and bankers losing their bonuses. Women are non existent in this picture; there has been no detailed analysis of the female dimension and the differing impacts on women. What is the gender composition of the employment in the industrial sector and companies that are given financial support? This question matters because a support for the future of men's rather than women's employment increases rather than decreases gender inequality.
Is feminization of management a protection against the crisis?
It is hard to escape the fact that almost all decision-makers in the economic crisis are men. "Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were headed by men when they got out of control and made loans to people with low incomes to people with big dreams who did not know any better. AIG in the
If Lehman Brothers had been Lehman sisters, run by women instead of men, would the credit crunch have happened? Both feminist and mainstream economists have pointed out that the credit crunch is quite literally a man-made disaster. The crunch has emboldened advocates of boardroom diversity, who insist we now need to get more women at the top in financial institutions as a matter of urgency. Male failure might open up opportunities for women to smash through the glass ceiling.
Iceland
The theory that women could have had a restraining effect on the excesses of men is made clear in a French study called 'Global Financial Crisis: Are women the antidote?' Published in October by French business school
Michel Ferrary, a professor at Ceram in
Employment inequality is still the norm in boardrooms across the globe, where men in suits continue to dominate both exec and non-exec role. Yet legislation in
In June 2003, the Norwegian government submitted a legislative proposal aimed at achieving 50% female representation on the boards of all public and lager private companies. On 1 January 2006, rules on gender representation on company boards came into force in
Informe Romeva sobre
Gènere i Crisi: Introducció (Part 2 de 3)
Informe Romeva sobre Gènere i Crisi: Introducció (Part 3 de 3)
