FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oct 25, 2023
Contact: Daniela Perez, [email protected]
WASHINGTON – Care in Action released the following statement in response to the White House’s $16 billion child-care funding request to Congress.
“Care in Action is urging Congress to honor the White House’s $16 billion child care funding request to provide long-overdue support for the nation’s families, working parents, child-care providers, and children. While we’re pleased to hear about this potential funding, we’re reminded that having working people and those who need care fall off the child-care cliff was an avoidable crisis. And this hard truth underscores the urgent need for systemic change in our care infrastructure – paid leave, age and disability care, child care and pre-K, and good jobs and wages for those who provide care.
The expiration of pandemic-era childcare relief on September 30 left the nation’s childcare system in turmoil, creating uncertainty for families and child-care workers. Without funding, as many as 3.2 million children can lose access to care, disproportionately affecting working mothers, caregivers, and care workers.
Families and care workers should not bear the burden of our inadequate care infrastructure. Care workers are battling unemployment and wage losses, while families face the difficult choice of sacrificing their livelihoods or their children’s access to childcare. It’s time our leaders take action and be held accountable for ensuring that no one is forced into such a difficult decision. We demand Congress work towards a solution that will put the people who power our economies and our societies and take care of our most precious first.”
Care in Action is the policy and advocacy home for women who care, working on behalf of more than two million domestic workers and care workers across America. Among the fastest-growing sectors in our economy, domestic workers are also among the most vulnerable and undervalued. As a mostly women and majority women of color workforce, this growing constituency consistently and overwhelmingly supports progressive values in American political life. Learn more at www.careinaction.us.