It looks very much like women have been left out of the Government’s wellbeing budget, says the New Zealand Federation of Business and Professional Women (BPW NZ).
“Given that 22,000 women found themselves out of work due to the impact of the Covid-19 response, we are incredibly disappointed that women were not a focus of the Government’s wellbeing budget,” says President Christine Berridge.
“BPW NZ has written to the Government calling for gender responsive budgeting and to not see any evidence of it being used, in this budget especially, shows the Government’s lack of concern for the economic empowerment of women.
“The budget for the very Ministry tasked with supporting women has been decreased – this is not the message we were expecting from a well-being budget.
“New Zealand is behind most other OECD countries in not including gender considerations in their public policy baselines and allocation of gender resources – this is not good enough.
“This budget was the perfect place to consider the impact of the allocations on women and channel resources to reduce the adverse impact the Covid-19 response has had on women.
“Once again, disappointingly, women are going to have to do it for themselves, their families and their communities,” says Mrs Berridge.
ENDS
Contact: President Christine Berridge, president@bpwnz.org.nz, 027 289 8359
BPW NZ is an affiliate of BPW International. BPW International is one of the most influential international networks of business and professional women with affiliates in 95 countries in five continents. Our organisation’s aims are to link professional and business women throughout the world, to provide support, to lobby for change and to promote the ongoing advancement of women. We work for equal opportunities and status for all women in economic, civil and political life and the removal of discrimination in all countries.
Pictured above BPW NZ Executive 2021 – 2022, left to right, Hellen Swales, Immediate Past President; Catherine Chrisp, Treasurer; Christine Berridge, President; Vivien Johnson, VP Membership; Siobhan Dilly, VP Issues (not pictured, Carmen Nelson, Executive Secretary who was overseas at the time).