Core Support for the New Economy

Abstract

This paper proposes an income guarantee called Core Support (CS), defined as compensation for household activities such as childcare, food preparation, care of elderly or ill persons in the home, and maintenance of the home and of household vehicles and appliances. The immediate goals of the proposal are to highlight, through compensation, the reality that the productive activities carried on in households are of essential importance for the whole economy and society, and to enable the people who carry out these essential activities to do so without having to short-change the care work because of the need to earn money through the market. The CS concept builds on literature on Basic Income Guarantees (BIG) and on feminist economics, which tends to be skeptical of BIG proposals. By addressing intra-household allocations, CS shows how a basic income system can promote a more caring democracy and a more partnership-oriented socioeconomic system that rewards the essential work of care. Appendix A surveys seven ways by which such a program could be financed.