Regarding cuts in public expenditure, the aim is said to be an increase in efficiency. A typical example is the cut in health expenditure. When patients are processed more quickly, reducing the time they spend in hospital, the resulting fall in hospital costs is actually outweigh by the induced rise in the unpaid work of women at work. Women lose more in terms of employment and wages than men especially in relation to public sector downsizing. E.g. in Benin and Ghana.
Women are more likely to be laid off because men are seen as the main breadwinners in the family.
The process implies an increase in the relative incomes of men with its implications in terms of bargaining issues inside the household, as well as intra-household allocation of resources by gender. This argument ignores the gendered patterns of production. The gender inequalities induced by SAPs imply that women's participation in economic opportunities in the long run is impeded. Positive effects of SAPs on women SAPs also have some positive effects. There is some evidence indicating that manufacturing for export has led to substantial job growth for young and literate young women, with wages above previously prevailing market levels.