Identifying gendered outcomes of gender-neutral policies

Abstract

Most social policies are written in gender-neutral language, but their effects are frequently different for men and women. This article analyzes two policies - the Community Mental Health Centers Act of 1963, which was the basis for deinstitutionalization, and the Social Security Amendments of 1983, which established diagnosis-related groups - both of which depend on unstated assumptions that women are informal caretakers. To help uncover gendered assumptions that may have negative effects on women, the article concludes with some questions that can be used to supplement existing policy analysis models.