Women In Public Policy
Women's lives are affected by many factors - whether or not they have adequate and affordable housing, adequate income, quality affordable childcare, access to training and education and other supports such as transportation. These factors also affect each other; for example, not having affordable childcare affects whether a woman can go to a training program or to go to work.
FemJEPP believes that the government should consider the full range of factors that affect women's lives when making policies to make sure that the full range of resources are in place, so all women can achieve social and economic well-being. We have named this approach to policy, An Integrated Approach to Public Policy, meaning that all the factors are being considered, as well as how they interact with each other.
FemJEPP has looked at the factors that could affect women's lives and we have grouped these factors into five resource areas and named them as follows:
- Human Resources - how a policy affects personal qualities, skills and knowledge.
- Economic Resources - how a policy affects the ability to access income and financial supports.
- Social Development Resources - how a policy affects the ability to access things like education, training, health services and transportation.
- Tangible Resources - how a policy affects the ability to access things like adequate housing, schools, libraries.
- Environmental Resources - how a policy affects the ability to access clean water, green space, such as parks and playgrounds.
FemJEPP also believes that women most affected by government policies should have the opportunity to have input into developing those policies and into changing those policies. Women's participation in the policy process is therefore an important part of the Integrated Approach to Public Policy.
