Bergmann was a feminist economist and one of the founders of feminist economics as an independent research field and of IAFFE (International Association for Feminist Economics). She may be best characterized as an egalitarian liberal feminist, who, while promoting individual freedom, acknowledged the social constraints and gender stereotypes that curtail women’s autonomy, and advanced policies aimed at strengthening women’s autonomy and empowerment. These included the total commodification of care work and programs such as HWP (Help for Working Parents). These include anti-discrimination legislation, affirmative action, and welfare state programs aimed at reducing not only inequality but also poverty, by introducing new instruments to measure it, such as BNB (Basic Needs Budget). Her analysis of the institutional origin of both inequality and poverty led her to adopt an institutionalist approach.