Who cares? The impact of universal care income and working time reduction on economic inequality, GHG emissions and time distribution

Time: 2 PM

Speaker:

• Simone D'Alessandro, University of Pisa

Abstract

SARS-COV-2 crisis has socioeconomic effects on both paid and unpaid work, and asymmetrically impacts women and men. The increased unemployment and the burden of care has fallen mainly on women, starting a trend that could be difficult to revert. We introduce time-use dynamics in the EUROGREEN model [D'Alessandro et al. (2020). Feasible Alternatives to Green Growth, Nature Sustainability, 3, pp. 329–335] to analyse the direct and indirect impacts of the pandemic on gender income and time gaps. The proposed analysis highlights the relevance of social innovation strategies to exit this emergency phase and envision a post-pandemic future both environmentally viable and socially just.

We evaluate the potentials of the joint implementation of a Universal Care Income and Working Time Reduction. We find that: i. these policies bring about a relevant reduction of the gender income gap, and also ii. a better distribution of unpaid working time between genders,  ii. the reduction in working hours increases labour demand that compensates for the reduction of female labour force participation due to the care income incentive, iii. care income compensates for the income reduction caused by working time reduction and promotes a more equal distribution of income.

Please contact school.socialsciences [at] unitn.it for the link to the Zoom event.