What is Women and the U.S. Budget?

What is Women and the U.S. Budget?

A CRASH COURSE IN "BUDGET LITERACY" THAT UNCOVERS THE SECRETS HIDDEN IN THE NATIONAL BUDGET

Women and the U.S Budget: Where Your Money Goes and What You Can Do About It, written by Jane Midgley, published in September 2005 by New Society Publishers. The foreword was written by U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA).

Women and the U.S Budget

is a crash course in budget literacy for women and everyone who wants to understand and transform the use of our nation's common resources.

In Part One, readers take on the role of "public investigator" and explore the questions: Where does the money come from? Where does the money go? Surplus or debt? and Who decides?

Part Two connects the budget with national and international economies and examines what organizations are doing around the world to create gender-sensitive and people-centered budgets.

Part Three describes values, guiding principles, and framework for a new budget for the United States, suggests ways to take action, and provides resources.

The national budget represents the common resources of the people of the United States. Yet only a handful of experts understand the full impact of budget policy on the American people. Since women comprise just a fraction of national decision-makers, women's needs and perspectives are largely left out of budget policy - a critical absence during our current era of rising deficits, increasing military and security budgets, and cutbacks in public investment.

Part of a worldwide movement for more transparency and accountability in public budgeting, the book is a tool for advocacy and action.