The context of austerity is problematic from a feminist point of view. When governments restrict public spending, essential dimensions of social provision are affected. Austerity is not an entelechy. It takes shape in people's daily lives. Austerity also operates in a terrain characterised by gender gaps in its multiple intersectionalities. Thus, the impacts of austerity are unequal. Confronting the narrative of austerity and thinking creatively about how social protection systems can be transformed and strengthened, and how funding can be secured to make this happen, is an inescapable element of any feminist agenda.