Economia di cura e reddito di base. Ristrutturare il welfare per dare risposta ai bisogni emergenti: Ristrutturare il welfare per dare risposta ai bisogni emergenti

Abstract

This paper offers some reflections on the social policy instrument of basic income. In particular, the reflections touch on the European scenario and jointly address the issue of unpaid care work. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought into the public debate the issue of the care economy, i.e. all those aspects of the care sector that are historically placed in the sphere of women’s work (such as health care, domestic work, child-rearing). Moreover, the post-pandemic economic crisis has exacerbated inequalities with the effect of further relegating care work. The European Union has moved in the direction of implementing cash-for-care policies, flanking these measures at the legislative level with protections for care workers. In this framework, the research on the topic tries to question the sustainability of informal care work and the different forms of remuneration, and investigates the multiple opportunities arising from a future introduction of basic income, declined both in its pure form of universal and unconditional income and in its different meanings.