Still Counting: Wellbeing, Women's Work and Policy-making

Description

`Underneath the numbers, a philosophical judgement is always being made based on values, not facts.' Thirty years ago Marilyn Waring's groundbreaking book Counting for Nothing was released. Waring explained, through meticulous economic analysis, how the success of the global economy rests on women's unpaid work. Counting for Nothing became a phenomenon: it was read and discussed around the world, and even made into a film. Today, many people hope that the shift to a wellbeing approach - moving beyond narrow economic indicators when assessing New Zealand's progress - will mean women's work is finally valued fairly. But what does Marilyn Waring make of it? This short book provides an essential assessment of wellbeing economics from a leading feminist scholar.

Marilyn Waring is a Professor of Public Policy at Auckland University of Technology. In the years since she retired from Parliament in 1984 she has written Women, Politics and Power, Counting for Nothing, Three Masqerades, In the Lifetime of a Goat, 1 Way to C the World, Who Cares? The Economics of Dignity, and Anticipatory Social Protection. She also edited Managing Mayhem and Thesis Survivor Stories. As well as being translated into French, Norwegian, Japanese and Spanish, Counting for Nothing was the subject of the award-winning documentary Who's Counting? Marilyn Waring on Sex, Lies and Global Economics, made by the National Film Board of Canada. In the past years Marilyn Waring has held fellowships at Harvard and Rutgers universities in the USA, at Queens University in Canada, and at the Hawke Institute in Adelaide, Australia. She has worked as a development consultant throughout Asia and the Pacific. She has served on the Board of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and the Council of Creative New Zealand. In 2003 she was a judge of the Montana New Zealand Book Awards. In 2008 she was awarded a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) for services to women and economics, and in 2011 she received an Honorary Doctor of Letters from Glasgow Caledonia University for research in international feminism and female human rights. Publications include In the Lifetime of a Goat: Writings, 1984-2000 (Bridget Williams Books, 2001) Three Masquerades: Essays on Equality, Work and Human Rights (Auckland University Press, 1996) Counting for Nothing: What Men Value and What Women are Worth (Bridget Williams Books, 1989) Women, Politics and Power (Allen & Unwin, 1985)

It's a thought-provoking read, challenging us to examine what New Zealanders (and especially government policy-makers) value, as well as to reconsider the most appropriate sources of evidence to inform policy-making. It's an excellent introduction to not only the wellbeing and policy landscape but also to Waring's writing. It has encouraged me to seek out more of her books, articles and podcasts. - Anne Kerslake Hendricks, NZ Booksellers Blog, 5 February 2019