Care and the Universal Basic Income in South Africa
Président(s) de session: Kasan, Juhi (Institute For Economic Justice, South Africa)
Présentateur(s): Howson, Kelle (Institute For Economic Justice), Megannon, Vayda (University of Cape Town)
South Africa does not have any permanent income support for able-bodied people between the ages of 18 and 59 despite the fact that a large segment of this group have no income or means of survival due in large part to the unavailability of employment. There have been debates about the introduction of basic income support in South Africa since the 1990s. At present, South Africa relies upon a targeted, unconditional grant system. The social grant system includes the Old Age Pension, Child Support Grant and Disability Grant. Since COVID-19, it has been expanded to include the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant. Targeting systems have been problematised as they are inherently designed to ensure that income support goes only to those who need it most. In addition targeting, as demonstrated by scholars such as Moore and Seekings (2019), alters social relationships and yields many unwanted social consequences. The impetus for a basic income grant is grounded in arguments of universality, social equity and economic democracy.
A distinctly feminist lens has not featured prominently in these debates. The call for a wage to recognise and valorise care can be located as far back as the Wages For Housework Movement in the 1970s. Many feminist proponents of a UBI argue that it has the potential to treat women as citizens in their own right, rather than dependents within a household (for example see Cantillion and McLean, 2016; Weeks, 2020). In addition, the universality of a basic income dispenses with many of the social consequences attached to targeted grant structures - which disproportionately affects women. However, many feminists have pointed to the ways in which a UBI attempts to answer the ‘care question’ by monetising life-making and ultimately flattening the political and social importance of care (for example see Lombardozzi, 2020) This panel aims to discuss four thematic areas:
What could be the role of government cash transfers such as a UBIG in granting recognition to and supporting unpaid care work, particularly in South Africa?
What does early evidence from the SRD grant suggest with regard to the potential of basic income support to support care?
What are the key feminist critiques around the implementation of UBI, and how do these pertain to the South African context specifically?
To what extent does UBI discourse in South Africa intersect with debates around the need for public-provided social care?
Doing more harm than good? Consequences of Paid Maternity Leave Extension Policy in India
Gupta, Shatakshi
George Washington University, United States of America
To minimize the negative effect of this natural gendered filial shock of motherhood, policymakers have often resorted to well-intended maternity leave policies, birthing a vast and growing volume of literature on the impacts of parental leave policy and its implication on the labor market. While such policies have been found to be beneficial for women in OECD nations, the literature still stands inconclusive on the impact of extended maternity leave policies in developing economies especially with pre-existing low female labor participation and strong societal gender norms that dictate the effect of the policy on the female labor demand and supply. India’s Maternity Act (2017) increased the paid maternity leaves of employed women from 12 weeks to 26 weeks in India. This paper will study the impact of this legislation on gendered labor market outcomes like employment and income, to understand how gendered regulations aimed to empower women can rather fuel gender differences and lead to unintended harmful consequences. This policy of India lacked any government support and all direct costs of the leave along with the indirect cost of hiring and training the temporary work replacement during the maternity benefits is borne by the employer. In the absence of an accompanying paternal leave provision, the employers face disincentive to hire, retain or promote female employees, due to their increased opportunity costs of female employees. This well-intentioned policy of the government aimed at improving job security and providing better health and financial outcomes during motherhood, is likely increasing gender-discrimination and pushing female workers towards informal economy. The preliminary analysis of the policy indicates evidence of employer discrimination against female employees, and a shift of females out of the formal organized sector into informal economy & unemployment.
Impact of Pension Reforms on Women: Learnings from Europe and Africa
Benkhadra, Reda
Independent researcher, Morocco
Pension reforms have had a significant impact on women in both Europe and Africa, although the specific effects vary by region. Several countries have introduced pension reforms to control the increasing expenses that result from aging populations and longer life expectancies. Nonetheless, such reforms have created issues of sufficiency and inequality among retired individuals, leading to pensioner poverty. Gendered labour market and life course patterns have placed women at a particular disadvantage in their later years, which can be amplified or alleviated by specific characteristics of pension schemes.
In Europe, many countries have undergone pension reforms in response to demographic changes and fiscal pressures. One common type of reform has been to raise the retirement age, which can have a disproportionate impact on women who have had interrupted careers due to caring responsibilities or part-time work. Other pension reforms in Europe have included changes to the calculation of pension benefits, such as shifting from a final salary to a career-average basis, thus resulting in a gender pension gap, with women receiving lower pensions than men do.
Similarly, in Africa, pension reforms have aimed at increasing coverage and sustainability of pension systems. In fact, pension systems are generally less developed and often do not provide adequate retirement income security for women, particularly those working in the informal sector. However, progress has been slow, and many women in Africa continue to face significant barriers to accessing pensions, including low levels of financial literacy and inadequate social protection. Furthermore, the reforms have often been designed without considering the specific needs and realities of women, leading to gender biases and discrimination.
It is therefore important to evaluate how changes in pension policies might affect genders differently. The impact of such reforms on the ability of pension systems to narrow gender disparities and alleviate poverty in later life should be considered. Additionally, policy makers should take steps to prevent inequality among retirees and poverty among pensioners. Non-contributory pensions could help bridge the gap in pension coverage between genders. A gender-responsive pension reform may be necessary to improve women's financial security during their old age.
Gendered Policy Implications in South Africa: Implementation oversights disqualifying child caregivers who receive the Child Support Grant from the Social Relief of Distress Grant
Megannon, Vayda Lee
University of Cape Town, South Africa
The Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant is the first social grant in South Africa awarded to able-bodied, working age and unemployed adults and aimed to alleviate extreme poverty. Through a case study involving 41 individuals who qualify for the SRD grant, in urban and rural areas across multiple provinces of South Africa, I explored how people living in poverty during a global crisis navigated social and economic hardships through the SRD grant. I focus on the experiences of applying for the SRD grant and what this means for women who are child caregivers, receiving a Child Support Grant (CSG).
Preliminary analysis indicates that women who are child caregivers and are receiving a child support grant, have experienced considerable barriers to accessing the SRD grant due to gender bias policy implementation throughout the various reiterations of SRD grant. At the first reiteration of implementing the SRD grant, those receiving the CSG (97% of whom were women) were not eligible for the SRD grant and instead qualified for a Caregivers Allowance, which was terminated in October of 2020. Caregivers (and their children) were therefore formally excluded from the SRD grant until July 2021. Following this, inclusion criteria was amended to include caregivers receiving the CSG. However, findings show that the implementation of the SRD grant, since the inclusion of caregivers, is fraught with faults and oversights which have disproportionately disadvantage women who are caregivers. This occurred alongside amended criteria which excluded anyone who was receiving alternative income, which was verified through checks on personal bank accounts. The implementation process has continuously lagged behind policy amendments and caregivers have reported being declined for the SRD grant due to income checks indicating employment or receipt of other income. Hence, through implementation oversights, the CSG is being captured as an alternative income and automatically excluding caregivers from receiving an SRD grant. At each moment of amendment since July 2021, the government has been playing catch-up in regards to the implementation process and this has had considerable implications for both women and children.
This paper looks at various moments of social protection policy implementation since Covid-19 which have exacerbated gender inequality by excluding women who are caregivers from receiving a SRD grant through policy oversight. I then explore what this means for women who are living in poverty and how this has impacted upon their wellbeing, kin and household livelihoods.
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