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Overall, since the 1980s macroeconomic policieshave failed to support labour demand in theface of growing labour supply. When demandfor labour grows slowly relative to supply, levelsof open unemployment increase, informalemployment expands and other atypical andnon-standard forms of work—such as part-timework, short-term hires and day labour markets—proliferate. At the same time, bargaining powershifts in favour of employers and the owners offirms. A reduced share of public sector jobs inoverall employment reinforces this trend. Theresult is a downward pressure on wages andconditions of employment. As Chapter 2 showed,this has happened at a time when, in many partsof the world, women’s labour force participationhas been increasing, so that the lack of availabilityof decent job opportunities specifically constrainswomen’s employment options and the prospectsfor redressing the socio-economic disadvantagethey experience.MACROECONOMIC POLICY, SOCIALPOLICY AND GENDER EQUALITYThe resources available to governments forimplementing the kinds of policies to advancegender equality outlined in Chapters 2 and 3are not fixed. They are determined, in part,by macroeconomic policies, including taxpolicies, decisions over deficit spending andthe management of debt. 46 Neoliberal policyregimes have tended to reduce tax revenuesrelative to the size of the economy, such that fewerpublic resources are available to finance publicexpenditures. Faced with reductions in governmentrevenues, efforts to control budget deficits haveemphasized reductions in spending, with cutsoften disproportionately affecting women. The2008 global financial crisis triggered a sovereigndebt crisis in Europe, leading to severe cuts insocial spending in some countries (see Box 4.2).These cutbacks have had important negativeconsequences for achieving substantive equality.BOX 4.2Crisis, austerity and retrogression in women’s economic and social rightsAlthough the 2008 global financial crisis originated in the private sector, one of its long-termimpacts has been on public budgets. In many developed countries, governments used public fundsto bail out the financial sector, moving bad debt and liabilities from the banks onto governmentbalance sheets. Despite rising debt levels and declines in GDP, the initial policy response to the crisiswas stimulus spending. However, this expansionary phase was short lived.By 2010 the combination of financial rescue packages and stimulus spending, along with fallingrevenues from taxation due to economic slowdown, had set the stage for a sovereign debt crisisin Europe. As a result, there have been drastic cuts in social transfers and public services in somecountries, triggering a retrogression in economic and social rights for women, as well as men, anda setback for gender equality. Expenditure on benefits for families with children, for example, whichhad peaked in 2009, fell back to below 2008 levels in 14 out of 23 European countries for which datawere available in 2011. 47Developing countries have also witnessed volatility in budget revenues resulting from the 2008 crisis.As public debt has mounted so too has pressure for spending cuts, threatening the subsidization