Universal Basic Income: any advantages for women?

[arranfan]

Natalie Bennett (of the Green Party) has an article up on Left Foot Forward: The Universal Basic Income Needs to Be Trialled Across Britain ASAP

You’ve only got to look at the crashing disaster of universal credit in the UK to see the dangers of ploughing ahead without proper trial and adjustment.

The trials we really need are those providing a route towards the security and safety of a universal basic income society. And as Philip Allston, UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, told the conference...the power of ideas needs to be backed by mass mobilisation of the people in favour of them.

We need our “sense of outrage” at the denial of basic rights under our current welfare systems to drive a positive way forward to security of all through a universal basic income.

Austerity and the wide-ranging impact of local government funding problems have disproportionate impacts for women (and children).

Would a wider trial in the UK open opportunities for women or reduce them?

Did you see the article on Feminist Current about UBI?

www.feministcurrent.com/2018/08/15/feminists-need-take-basic-income-fight-womens-liberation-interview-carole-pateman/

Lisa Muggeridge has done a great video on UBI (sorry, on phone so can't do a link). The basic argument in her takedown is that it takes scarce resources away from the places in society where they are genuinely needed and gives them to the middle classes instead.

Targeted initiatives to help with child care and support part time work initiatives, as well as binning universal credit and going back to a benefits system fit for purpose would help women more. Oh, and more council housing, so women didn't have to worry they and their children would be homeless in the event of relationship breakdown.

At first scamper round, I can't find Lisa Muggeridge's video but did find this article by her: The questions you should ask anyone trying to sell Universal Basic Income

For clarity, yes - I don't think as yet that we have an obvious solution to the imbalance in housing costs and the market distortions caused by housing benefit. And, agreed on the need for readily available childcare and assistance for carers that is affordable.

Just coming to post Lisa's article. You beat me to it, you guys!

UBI sounds lovely but scratch the surface and, as is usually the case with these happy clappy ideas that sound oh, so progressive on the face of it, turn out to be yet another way of funnelling money to middle class people who don't need it.

Women also need joined up legislation so that they aren't constantly battling on multiple fronts faced with a Hobson's choice - eg benefits legislation, DV legislation and child protection legislation.

Yes, UBI is massively problematic for the less well-off members of society - particularly carers (who as we all know are majority women) and the disabled.

There is no way UBI can provide enough money for everyone in the country to live on (including housing costs) without crashing the economy. Means testing has a bad name but it's the only way of getting benefits to people who actually need them.