Support for the idea of a universal basic income paid to every eligible adult and child is gaining traction across the developed world, though it remains a controversial and largely untested proposal. It has been defined by van Parijsas ‘an income paid by a political community to all its members on an individual basis, without means test or work requirement’. Basic income may well be a necessary government response to the predicted reduction in paid employment opportunities following technological innovation. Such a basic income would have significant implications for all socially valuable activities, including those without direct economic benefit, and care is one such activity.
What the gendered implications might be of a basic income are contested, in particular with relation to what it might mean to be a parent responsible for childcare. Whilst advocates argue that basic income would alleviate child and maternal poverty, critics are concerned that a basic income would further entrench a gendered domestic division of labour and exacerbate gender pay gaps and other inequalities.
Research into care leaves, cash-for-care and other care allowances highlights that the design of policies is key if they are to support Nancy Fraser’s ‘universal caregiving’ model. That is to say, fathers tend only to use care benefits to which they are entitled in certain contexts. There are surely lessons from this understanding that could apply to any implementation of basic income or other cash-for-care policy should an aim be to support a more equal sharing of care between men and women.
Cash for care policies are likely to be appreciated differently across a given population. How basic income and other family policies might interact across social classes and across different forms of gender inequity would be interesting to explore. A balance of theoretical and empirical papers would be sought for a panel.
Stream convenor
Alison Koslowski, University of Edinburgh, Alison.koslowski@ed.ac.uk