Deficit: How Feminist Economics Can Change Our World

In 2020, the prominent Danish feminist Emma Holten read an article stating that women were a net ‘deficit’ to society. Women took more than they gave, ‘draining’ the public purse by giving birth and taking parental leave. They contributed less than their fair share in taxes, because they often worked part-time to look after other people at home, or held low-paid
jobs in the public sector. Denmark would be richer if women’s lives looked more like men’s, the economic experts concluded. A similar story is told around the globe.

How did we get here? In Deficit, Emma Holten traces how economic thinkers – from the Enlightenment onwards – created a value framework that overlooked and neglected ‘women’s work’ and acts of care. She reveals how the economic models that drive political decisions today are just as flawed, giving us unparalleled monetary wealth, but causing deep social harms that are hurting us all.

If we cannot properly value the things that matter, how can we build a better future?

Review

This book brilliantly rewrites the history of economic thought to place 'her story' at its heart - while combining sharp analysis with piercing wit and deep care. It's a must read -- Kate Raworth, author of DOUGHNUT ECONOMICS

Emma is one of the most important feminist voices of the 21st century. Emma Holten is going to change the world and you better get on board now, by reading this book. This book will make everything make sense. The book about capitalism we didn't know we needed -- Sofie Hagen

At once poignant and accessible, Deficit deftly exposes how our existing economic institutions fail to value care in our societies and are incapable of understanding why relationships between people matter. A truly impressive book -- Rosie Collington, author of THE BIG CON

A triumph . . . Like all the great classics of economics, Holten’s DEFICIT is at heart about how we care for ourselves and other people. DEFICIT punches a great hole through history and our thinking about the care crisis that defines all of our lives. Holten is immensely readable, crystal clear, informative and best of all laugh-out-loud funny. So entertained and engrossed was I by Holten’s distinctive voice, it was only after I put down the book that I realised the impact of this subtle, informative history lesson in four hundred years of western economics, and how feminist thinking has the capacity to change it -- Rachel Holmes, author of ELEANOR MARX and SYLVIA PANKHURST

About the Author

Emma Holten is a feminist activist and gender policy consultant. In 2014 she created the project CONSENT, raising awareness of digital sexual violence. Since 2019, she has worked with feminist economics. She served on the European Institute of Gender Equality Experts Forum as an expert in feminist economics, and on Human Rights Watch’s advisory committee on Women’s Rights. In 2023 she was appointed as advisor to the Danish government’s investigation of power in Denmark. She has delivered keynotes at the Conference on the Status of Women at the UN, the Guadalajara Book Fair, the European Commission and many other places. She also has a degree in Modern Culture and has translated Chris Kraus and Silvia Federici. She lives in Copenhagen. Deficit is her first book.