Wise Centre for Economic Justice welcomes the Nine Principles for Economic Recovery from Engender and Close the Gap

Wise Centre for Economic Justice welcomes the Nine Principles for Economic Recovery from Engender and Close the Gap

Yesterday (3 June) our friends at Engender and Close the Gap launched their Nine Principles for Economic Recovery, endorsed by Scotland’s leading feminist and parenting organisations. They offer an evidence-based, radical and achievable set of proposals for rebuilding an economy that works for women, as well as for men. At their heart is the call for a fundamental redefinition of what we mean by the economy, rooted in the scholarship of feminist economists such as Susan Himmelweit, Diane Elson, Marilyn Waring and WiSE founder Ailsa McKay. Feminist economics offers a framework for recognising the significant contribution of unpaid work in underpinning the paid economy and addressing the systematic undervaluation of female dominated occupations. It also allows us to understand that economic growth is itself a gendered process, and that delivering economic growth that works for women depends on recognising that patterns of growth are more important than the pace of growth, as argued in this recent paper on Gender and Inclusive Growth by WiSE member Emily Thomson. Similarly, the Principles call for significant investment in the child and social care infrastructure, providing a stimulus to aggregate demand, supporting women’s paid labour, and reducing the burden of unpaid work which so often falls to women. Engender and Close the Gap have delivered a vision of Scotland’s economy that centres equality, care and solidarity and is based on human, as opposed to market, values, for which there has never been a more pressing need.