Women face persistent structural challenges to decent jobs and economic independence; their livelihoods are even more vulnerable under the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. This vulnerability is due in part to a system of gender inequality that imposes unpaid care and domestic work on women through socially constructed gender norms, and that deprives them of effective universal protection systems. How to cushion the adverse effects during the emergency while paving the way for structural transformation? This brief examines the most at-risk elements of women’s income-generation capacity, presents the possibilities and estimated costs of a Temporary Basic Income (TBI) for women’s economic security across the developing world, and discusses some routes towards long-term commitments of economic protection and gender equality.