Women bear brunt of austerity measures - report

After 30 years of liberation, black working-class women are more likely to be unemployed, food insecure, lacking access to the most basic social services, and, on top of this, confronting the widespread scourge of gender-based violence.

This is according to the findings of the Austerity Is A Feminist Issue report, which explores how austerity (fiscal policies instituted by the state) is not merely an economic policy but is deeply intertwined with the patriarchal structures that shape our society.

The report compiled by the Alternative Information and Development Centre (AIDC) was released in Observatory last Thursday.

Speaking to the Tatler after the event, economic justice project officer for the AIDC Aliya Chikte said the report highlighted the urgent need to rethink dominant macroeconomic frameworks, centring the impact of austerity on gender and other social inequalities in policymaking.

“A feminist future requires fiscal and monetary policies that are determined by and serve the well-being of all people, not just the powerful few,” she said.

When broken down, Ms Chikte said the report argued that when the state withdrew from providing key services, it was often women who ended up closing the gap through unpaid care work.

“We argue that austerity is not just an economic issue, but it is a feminist issue too.”

At the event, they discussed austerity and how it differs in South Africa compared to other parts of the world.

“Unlike other places that suffer from structural adjustment programmes, South Africa has self-inflicted austerity measures. The decision to implement austerity is a political choice that deprioritises social services particularly in societies where women are disproportionately responsible for care work and are more likely to depend on public services,” said Ms Chikte.

The report also looks at issues such as social reproduction, what austerity is, why we have austerity, the deepening crisis of social reproduction, alternatives and resistance to austerity.

The centre hopes to use the report as a complementary resource to highlight how unpaid care work should be recognised, redistributed and, where possible, reduced through investment in social infrastructure.

They will be hosting a series of workshops with community activists to popularise the issues discussed in the report.

The centre was formed in 1996 in response to the democratic transition in South Africa and the new opportunities and challenges it brought those seeking greater social justice within the democracy.

Over the years, the AIDC has established itself as source of research and information on austerity and debt, tax, illicit financial flows, the energy transition and other themes.