Introducing Gender Perspectives in the Budgetary Process at the Central Government Level

Abstract

Governments across the world have implemented gender budgeting, but research on the topic is scarce. This article looks at how the introduction of gender perspectives in budget documents has informed the allocation of public resources at the central government level in Austria. The study combines a qualitative and quantitative document analysis of plenary speeches by members of parliament during budget approval. The results first show that gender budgeting related information was frequently mentioned in budget debates and thus informed resource allocation. Second, the analysis provides insights into which speakers are ‘promoters’ of gender budgeting in the legislative arena.