despite rising debt levels and declines in gross domestic product gdp the initial policy response to the crisis was stimulus spending however by the combination of financial rescue packages and stimulus spending along with falling revenues from taxation due to economic slowdown led to a push for drastic cuts in social transfers such as benefits for families with children and social services in many countries women are likely to feel the impact of these cuts most acutely because they are overrepresented among public sector frontline workers because they depend more than men on public transfers and services and because the burden of providing care when public support is reduced falls disproportionately on women