Gender, Care and Welfare: Can Caretakers Allowances or Basic Income Promote Gender Equality?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33831/jws.v19i1.273Keywords:
basic income, care work, women, gender equality, social welfare policyAbstract
Gendered division of labour prescribing women’s domestic and care work and men’s labour market participation continues to be the cause of serious injustices affecting women and one of the determinants of women’s social and economic inequality in the world. Certain social welfare policies such as caretakers’ allowances can be interpreted as initiatives that aim to compensate the undervalued and non-income generating care work predominantly done by women. The article assesses such policies in the framework of feminist debates on gender, care and welfare and argues that as long as such policies assume that caring is women’s natural job, they will fall short of serving gender equality. Re-visiting the feminist discussions on Basic Income, the regular payment of a monthly income to all citizens/residents of the state on an unconditional and universal basis, the article will discuss Basic Income as an alternative policy proposal that is more favourable in terms of its potential for advancing gender equality by providing women with economic security, engendering the re-valuation of care and challenging the gendered division of labour. Although Basic Income is not a panacea to the multiple problems women are faced with, the very discussion of this proposal from a gender perspective is valuable for emphasizing the role of care in human relationships and men’s responsibility in equal role sharing.
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Van Parijs P. (Ed.). (1992). Arguing for Basic Income: Ethical Foundations for a Radical Reform. London: Verso.
Van Parijs P. (1995). Real Freedom for All: What (if anything) Can Justify Capitalism? Oxford: Oxford UP.
Van Parijs P. (2002). Basic Income: A Simple and Powerful Idea for the Twenty-First Century. Proceedings of BIEN (Basic Income European Network) 9th International Congress’02: Geneva, Switzerland. Retrieved from: https://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~wright/929-utopias-2013/.../RedesigningDistrCh1.pdf. Access date: July 29, 2017.
Van Parijs P. (2004). Basic Income: A Simple and Powerful Idea for the Twenty-First Century. Politics & Society, 32(1): 7-39.
Vollenweider C. (2013). Domestic Service and Gender Equality: An Unavoidable Problem for the Feminist Debate on Basic Income. Basic Income Studies, 8(1): 19-41.
Zelleke A. (2008). Institutionalizing the Universal Caretaker through a Basic Income? Basic Income Studies, 3(3): n/a. Retrieved from: https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/bis.2008.3.3/bis.2008.3.3.1133/bis.2008.3.3.1133.xml. Access date: July 29, 2017.
Alcock P. (1989). Unconditional Benefits: Misplaced Optimism in Income Maintaenance. Capital and Class, 37: 117-132.
Alstott A. (2004). What We Owe to Parents. Boston Review, 29(2). Retrieved from: http://bostonreview.net/us/anne-l-alstott-what-we-owe-parents. Access date: July 29, 2017.
Atkinson A. B. (1995). Public Economics in Action: The Basic Income/Flat Tax Proposal. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press.
Baker J. (2008). All Things Considered, Should Feminists Embrace Basic Income. Basic Income Studies, 3(3): n/a. Retrieved from: https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/bis.2008.3.3/bis.2008.3.3.1129/bis.2008.3.3.1129.xml. Access date: July 29, 2017.
Briar C. (1996). Women, Poverty and UBI: A Review of the British Evidence. Proceedings of UBINZ’ 96: First National Conference on Universal Basic Income. Wellington, New Zealand. Retrieved from: http://www.oocities.org/ubinz/CBriar1996.html. Access date: July 29, 2017.
Bubeck D. (1995). Care, Gender and Justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Christensen E. (2002). Feminist Arguments in Favour of Welfare and Basic Income in Denmark. Proceedings of BIEN (Basic Income European Network) 9th International Congress’02. Geneva, Switzerland. Retrieved from: http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/ses/download/docs/chris.pdf. Access date: July 29, 2017.
Elgarte J. (2008). Basic Income and the Gendered Division of Labour. Basic Income Studies, 3(3): n/a. Retrieved from: https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/bis.2008.3.3/bis.2008.3.3.1136/bis.2008.3.3.1136.xml. Access date: July 29, 2017.
Fineman M. (2001) Dependencies. In Hirschmann N. & Liebert U. (Eds.), Women & Welfare: Theory and Practice in the United States and Europe. New Jersey: Rutgers UP: 23-38.
Frankman M.J. (2002). A Planet Wide Citizen’s Basic Income. Proceedings of BIEN (Basic Income European Network) 9th International Congress’02. Geneva, Switzerland. Retrieved from: http://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/bitstream/handle/document/25124/ssoar-avinus-2008-27042008-frankman-a_planet-wide_citizens_income_an.pdf?sequence=1. Access date: July 29, 2017.
Fraser N. (1997). After the Family Wage: A Postindustrial Thought Experiment. In Justice Interruptus: Critical Reflections on the ‘Postsocialist’ Condition. New York: Routledge.
Gheaus A. (2008). Basic Income, Gender Justice and the Costs of Gender-Symmetrical Lifestyles. Basic Income Studies, 3(3): n/a. Retrieved from: https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/bis.2008.3.3/bis.2008.3.3.1134/bis.2008.3.3.1134.xml. Access date: July 29, 2017.
Goodin R. (1992). Towards a Minimally Presumptuous Social Welfare Policy. In Parijs P.V. (Ed.), Arguing for Basic Income: Ethical Foundations for a Radical Reform. London: Verso: 195-215.
Gornick J.C. & Meyers M.K. (2001). Gendering Welfare State Variation: Income Transfers, Employment Supports, and Family Poverty. In Hirschmann N. & Liebert U. (Eds.), Women & Welfare: Theory and Practice in the United States and Europe. New Jersey: Rutgers UP: 215-244.
Gornick J.C. & Meyers M.K. (2003). Families That Work: Policies for Reconciling Parenthood and Employment. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Hochschild A. (1989). The Second Shift. London: Piatkus.
Jenson J. (1997). Who Cares? Gender and Welfare Regimes. Social Politics, 4(2): 182-87.
Kittay E.F. (1999). Love’s Labour: Essays on Women, Equality, and Dependency. New York: Routledge.
Kittay E.F. (2001). From Welfare to a Public Ethic of Care. In Hirschmann N., and Liebert U. (Eds.), Women & Welfare: Theory and Practice in the United States and Europe. New Jersey: Rutgers UP: 38-65.
Knijin T. & Kremer M. (1997). Gender and the Caring Dimension of Welfare States: Toward Inclusive Citizenship. Social Politics, 4(3): 328-361.
Lister R. (1994). She has Other Duties: Women, Citizenship and Social Security. In Baldwin S. & Falkingham J. (Eds.), Social Security and Social Change. London: Harvester Wheatsheaf: 31-44.
McKay A. & VanEvery J. (2000). Gender, Family, and Income Maintenance: A Feminist Case for Citizens Basic Income. Social Politics, 7(2): 266-284.
McKay A. (2001). Rethinking Work and Income Maintenance Policy: Promoting Gender Equality through a Citizen’s Basic Income. Feminist Economics, 7(1): 97-118.
Michel S. & Mahon R. (Eds.) (2002). Child Care Policy at the Crossroads: Gender and Welfare State Restructuring. New York: Routledge.
Offe C. (1992). A Non-Productivist Design for Social Policies. In Parijs P.V. (Ed.), Arguing for Basic Income: Ethical Foundations for a Radical Reform. London: Verso: 61-78.
Okin S.M. (1989). Justice, Gender, and the Family. New York: Basic Books.
O’Reilly J. (2008). Can a Basic Income Lead to a More Gender Equal Society? Basic Income Studies, 3(3): n/a. Retrieved from: https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/bis.2008.3.3/bis.2008.3.3.1135/bis.2008.3.3.1135.xml. Access date: July 29, 2017.
Pateman C. (2004). Democratizing Citizenship: Some Advantages of a Basic Income. Politics & Society, 32(1): 89-105.
Pateman C. (1988). The Sexual Contract. Cambridge: Polity Press. Gender, Care and Welfare: Caretakers Allowances, Basic Income, Gender Equality? 129
Pettit P. (2007). A Republican Right to Basic Income. Basic Income Studies, 2(2): 1-8.
Perez J.L.R. (2004). A New Gender Perspective for Basic Income. Proceedings of BIEN (Basic Income European Network) 10th International Congress’04. Barcelona, Spain. Retrieved from: basicincome.org/bien/pdf/2004ReyPerez1.doc. Access date: July 29, 2017.
Robeyns I. (2001). An Income of One’s Own: A Radical Vision of Welfare Policies in Europe and Beyond. Gender and Development, 9(1): 82-89.
Stanley-Clarke N. (1996). The Needs of Women and the Universal Basic Income as a Solution? UBINZ Universal Basic Income New Zealand. Retrieved from: http://www.oocities.org/ubinz/Nicola_UBI_women.html. Access date: July 29, 2017.
Tronto J.C. (2001). Who Cares? Public and Private Caring and the Rethinking of Citizenship. In Hirschmann N. & Liebert U. (Eds.), Women & Welfare: Theory and Practice in the United States and Europe. New Jersey: Rutgers UP: 65-84.
Ungerson C. (1997). Social Politics and the Commodification of Care. Social Politics, 4(3): 362-381.
Van Parijs P. (Ed.). (1992). Arguing for Basic Income: Ethical Foundations for a Radical Reform. London: Verso.
Van Parijs P. (1995). Real Freedom for All: What (if anything) Can Justify Capitalism? Oxford: Oxford UP.
Van Parijs P. (2002). Basic Income: A Simple and Powerful Idea for the Twenty-First Century. Proceedings of BIEN (Basic Income European Network) 9th International Congress’02: Geneva, Switzerland. Retrieved from: https://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~wright/929-utopias-2013/.../RedesigningDistrCh1.pdf. Access date: July 29, 2017.
Van Parijs P. (2004). Basic Income: A Simple and Powerful Idea for the Twenty-First Century. Politics & Society, 32(1): 7-39.
Vollenweider C. (2013). Domestic Service and Gender Equality: An Unavoidable Problem for the Feminist Debate on Basic Income. Basic Income Studies, 8(1): 19-41.
Zelleke A. (2008). Institutionalizing the Universal Caretaker through a Basic Income? Basic Income Studies, 3(3): n/a. Retrieved from: https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/bis.2008.3.3/bis.2008.3.3.1133/bis.2008.3.3.1133.xml. Access date: July 29, 2017.
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2017-05-10
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Göker, Z. G. (2017). Gender, Care and Welfare: Can Caretakers Allowances or Basic Income Promote Gender Equality?. Kadın/Woman 2000, Journal for Women’s Studies, 19(1), 115–129. https://doi.org/10.33831/jws.v19i1.273
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