Stephanie Ervin - Basic Income vs Guaranteed Jobs: What If We Paid Stay-At-Home Moms?

What if we just paid women for the work they already do

A Basic Income versus the Job Guarantee? Why not just pay women (and some men, if they want) to stay at home to bring up the children. That's happier families and happier children. But women don't want to be cooped up alone all day with the kids, so we could have community centres and events for things to do all paid for by the Job Guarantee programme.

Wouldn’t it be great if we just paid women for the work they already do? We don’t necessarily need to create work (UBJ) or create value (UBI). Instead, we can look for opportunities to compensate Americans for the work they’re already doing — the services they already provide, which benefit other Americans. And, it has the potential to be a lot more practical.

We know that when women earn more money, families do better, because women tend to make economic choices that benefit the family: they invest in education, in healthy food choices, and in other things that lift kids and parents out of cycles of poverty.

What if we paid women (and some men) for the jobs they already do — in the home, raising kids? We have adopted some of these ideas within the in-home childcare space or in-home care providers, but what if we took it a much larger step forward?

Consider what would happen if we decided to pay women and men who choose to stay home with children from birth until they enter full-time school. The government could train those interested in the program in skills like first aid, CPR, basic childcare, on parenting techniques, early brain development. We can use the program itself to create jobs in training and coaching moms through the structured process. And then, most importantly, we can pay women who make it through the program for the primary role they already occupy — dedicated moms. I’ve long believed that modern feminism has lacked respect for and has not given credit to the inherent dignity women hold in the work they already do.

Economics 

Stephanie Ervin - Basic Income vs Guaranteed Jobs: What If We Paid Stay-At-Home Moms?