Suchergebnisse

AbstractThe Social Guarantee is part of the everyday economy and contributes a distinctive, normative approach. It maintains that the primary purpose of the economy is to meet everyone's needs within the limits of the natural environment. It offers a principled framework for policy and practice to address three interlinked crises that are all rooted in a failed economic system: soaring living costs, widening inequalities and the climate emergency. The starting point is that everyone should have a sufficient income. Crucially, this is derived not only from wages and cash transfers, but also from publicly funded services, infrastructure and other collective measures that constitute in‐kind benefits. These make a substantial contribution to living standards, they are highly redistributive and they are far more ecologically sustainable than aggregated market transactions. It is time to reassert the collective ideal and put in‐kind benefits at the heart of Labour's programme.

L'idée d'une mise en commun de ses ressources et de partage des risques pour fournir des services universels en fonction des besoins et non de la capacité de paiement était au cœur de l'accord d'après-guerre. La garantie sociale offre un cadre pour les politiques et les pratiques, combinant un revenu de subsistance équitable et des services universels. Fondée sur la théorie des besoins, elle combine universalité et suffisance afin de fournir une base sociale sûre pour tous, dans les limites de la planète. Les services universels peuvent être combinés avec une garantie de revenu afin de s'assurer que le revenu de chacun ne tombe pas en dessous d'un niveau suffisant convenu.

The idea of pooling resources and sharing risks to provide universal services according to need not ability to pay was at the heart of the post-war settlement. However, decades of market ideology and deep spending cuts have left most services starved of power and resources. Universal Basic Services (UBS) offers a principled framework for policy and practice that aims to ensure everyone has access to life's essentials. Based on need theory it combines universality with sufficiency to provide a secure social foundation for all within planetary boundaries. Needs are met in different ways, combining collective and individual measures, as illustrated by examples of childcare, housing and food. UBS can be combined with an income guarantee to ensure no-one's income falls below an agreed level of sufficiency. Cash and services, which represent a 'social wage', are best understood as two sides of the same coin, supporting rather than competing with one another.

The problems around division of labour and purpose between genders have shifted but have not gone away. Anna Coote looks at the impact of the combined pressures of working and caring on women today and the way the lives of both men and women are shaped by the distribution of paid and unpaid time.