Should Citizen’s Income Become a Goal for Feminism in Latin America?

Abstract

In feminist academic circles (and to a lesser degree in the environment of feminist activism) the pertinence of supporting a universal Citizen’s Income (CI) has been discussed.1 Two main positions can be distilled from the hitherto open-ended debate. These can be roughly summarized as follows. On the one side are those that maintain that a CI in practice would function just like pin money for women, keeping them from joining the labor market, and confining their work to care responsibilities in the home.2 The other side unites defenders of the opposite opinion: CI would give women a minimal economic autonomythat would strengthen their position in other spheres, including the home, where they would be able to negotiate the distribution of care-related responsibilities more equally, and the labor market.