Using the United States’ fiscal response to COVID-19 in March and April 2020 as a case study, this paper explores the implications the US coronavirus legislation had for the societal distribution of responsibility for social reproduction among US households, employers, and the federal government – and the legislation's effect on women and racialized minorities. It builds on feminist political economy research that argues that, prior to the coronavirus pandemic, economic crisis and stagnating conditions for workers in the US had increased the role of households and the US government in social reproduction relative to the contribution of employers. The paper argues that the US federal government has responded to the COVID-19 crisis through an infusion of income support, but it has failed to increase its long-term socially reproductive commitments and has not addressed the intensified socially reproductive burden placed on households or the declining role of employers in working-class social reproduction.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The COVID-19 crisis prompted the US Congress to spend an historic US$3 trillion on relief.

• Sixty-nine percent of coronavirus spending was allocated to social reproduction purposes.

• Congress responded more to the collapse of aggregate demand than to the health crisis.

• Federal aid improved the livelihood of some groups, while disadvantaging others.

• The bills left low-wage workers, women, and minorities in vulnerable positions.

本文以美国在2020年3月和2020年4月对COVID-19的财政回应为案例研究，探讨了美国冠状病毒立法对美国家庭，雇主和联邦政府对社会再生产的社会责任分配的影响–以及该法规对妇女和种族少数群体的影响。它建立在女权主义政治经济学研究的基础之上，该研究认为，在冠状病毒大流行之前，美国的经济危机和工人停滞的状况相对于雇主的贡献，增加了家庭和美国政府在社会再生产中的作用。该论文认为，美国联邦政府通过注入收入支持来应对COVID-19危机，

强调

• COVID-19危机促使美国国会花费了历史性的3万亿美元用于救济。

• 冠状病毒支出的69％用于社会再生产目的。

• 国会对总需求暴跌的回应，而不是对健康危机的回应。

• 联邦援助改善了某些团体的生计，但不利于其他团体。

• 这些法案使低薪工人，妇女和少数民族处于弱势地位。