Reflections on the Basic Income debate from an Irish feminist perspective; A feminist alternative to basic income

Abstract

Basic Income (BI) is often argued as the ideal reform from a feminist perspective. The paper reflects on whether BI can deliver a feminist gender neutral carer-worker vision of reform. This paper first considers the pros and cons of BI from a general feminist perspective. It argues that a basic income approach, with the potential to reinforce present socially constructed gender differentiated care roles, is not the preferred option for social security reform for working aged payments. The paper therefore outlines an alternative feminist income support reform agenda for Irish working aged social security reform. The paper does not fully reject BI. It argues it is the appropriate reform option for child income support and for pension age