The Welsh Government Final Budget 2026-27: A budget without women?

On 20 January 2026, the Welsh Government published its Final Budget for 2026-27. This fiscal event marked a pivotal moment for Wales: the final budget of the Sixth Senedd and the last to be published ahead of the upcoming Senedd election on 7 May 2026. Spending plans of £27.5billion were announced to support ‘public services, communities and businesses in Wales.’ Ironically, that very budget failed to acknowledge the group that makes up the majority of Wales’ population; women.

At WWBG, we welcomed some of the Budget’s announcements. We were pleased to see additional investment in the NHS and local government following a budget agreement between Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru in December 2025. We also welcomed the restated funding for childcare in Wales, which will maintain the expansion of part-time childcare for two year olds. We must stress, however, that these allocations are unlikely to meet the cost and demand pressures facing Wales’ public services and thus amount to little more than short term protection. In particular, they fail to address the structural issues which exacerbate the recruitment and retention crisis in social care, and which keep Wales’ childcare system unaffordable, inaccessible and disjointed.

We know that each of these shortfalls will hit women in Wales the hardest. Women make up 78% of health and social care workers in Wales, as well as the majority of childcare providers. They bear a disproportionate share of caring responsibilities and are more reliant on public services than men due to their unequal economic position. It follows that women in Wales – particularly single mothers, disabled and ethnic minority women – are disproportionately impacted when these services receive inadequate investment and support. When public services are under pressure, vulnerable individuals often turn to third sector organisations for vital support. However, the third sector in Wales – especially the Welsh women’s sector – has faced successive financial crises alongside increased demand, leading to organisation’s closures and service cuts. In this context, the complete lack of recognition and additional support for the Welsh third sector in this year’s Final Budget is deeply regrettable.

Alarmingly, none of the above gendered impacts were discussed, or even acknowledged, in the Welsh Government’s Final Budget and its accompanying documentation. While the Strategic Integrated Impact Assessment (SIIA) published alongside the Budget represented an improvement in budget transparency and clarification of the SIIA process, it failed to recognise the impact of any decisions on women, including in key gendered areas such as transport, health and social care and apprenticeships.

This omission is more than symbolic. Women make up 51.1% of Wales’ population, dominate low-paid and insecure work, and shoulder most unpaid caring responsibilities. The failure to meaningfully consider their needs and experiences completely undermines the Welsh Governments ability to budget responsibly and fairly for all. It also exposes the urgent need to roll out gender budgeting across Welsh Government. Only by doing so can we ensure that that decision-makers respond to the needs of all groups of people in Wales and provide the support that women in Wales need and deserve. WWBG will continue to push for this change, holding the Government accountable to ensure women’s voices are central to budget decisions.

Hannah Griffiths is Coordinator and Policy Assistant at the Wales Women’s Budget Group / Cydlynydd Grŵp Cyllideb Menywod Cymru a Chynorthwyydd Polisi

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The views and opinions expressed in this blogpost are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy position of the Women’s Budget Group.