FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 11, 2024
CONTACT: Daniela Perez, [email protected]
Vice President Harris Reaffirms Her Leadership as the Champion Working Families Need
Philadelphia, PA – Last night’s debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia underscored the need for a robust care infrastructure that supports working families. While the debate did not directly address the care crisis, Vice President Harris emphasized her commitment to working families through policies like the Child Tax Credit. Earlier this week, the Harris-Walz campaign announced its key priorities, emphasizing the urgent need to strengthen jobs for care workers and invest in high-quality, affordable child, aging, and long-term care. Care in Action remains confident that Vice President Harris is the candidate to deliver the care infrastructure working families desperately need, and we will continue pushing to ensure these issues are at the forefront of future debates.
Hillary Holley, Executive Director of Care in Action, Released the Following Statement:
“Last night, Vice President Kamala Harris reaffirmed her leadership as the champion working families need. Although the care crisis was not addressed directly in the debate, Vice President Harris laid out her vision for an ‘opportunity economy,’ emphasizing the vital importance of care infrastructure. She highlighted the Child Tax Credit and stressed the need to support working families to ensure a thriving economy. She also made it clear that women are facing increasingly difficult choices—having to find ways to pay for child care while traveling across state lines to access essential care. In stark contrast, Donald Trump deflected questions on his policy priorities, criminalized immigrants, and failed to present a meaningful plan to tackle the pressing challenges millions of American families face. He also did not address his absurd comment that child care is ‘not that expensive,’ further demonstrating how out of touch he is with everyday Americans.
Voters in battleground states overwhelmingly prefer a candidate who wants to invest in child care, aging and disability care, and paid leave, paid for by asking billionaires to finally pay their fair share. Last night’s debate lacked honest conversations about the care crisis, but we know that Vice President Harris has been a care champion throughout her career. As a Senator, she introduced the first Federal Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, and as Vice President, she has continued to fight for a strong care infrastructure. As President, she will build on this leadership and finish the job of tackling the care crisis head-on.
The care agenda is not just an economic necessity but a moral imperative. Vice President Harris, drawing from her own experience growing up in a working-class family and caring for her mother, continues to champion policies that lift up caregivers, care workers, and families. This includes expanding paid leave, lowering healthcare costs, and increasing access to affordable child care and long-term care.
In stark contrast, Donald Trump’s Project 2025 agenda threatens to roll back decades of progress. It seeks to dismantle Head Start, slash Medicaid benefits, and weaken Medicare—hurting the very families who rely on these essential services. Project 2025 would devastate the care workforce, which is predominantly made up of women of color, and would raise costs for families across the board.
Care in Action will continue raising these critical issues, pushing to ensure that future debates discuss the care agenda. While working families face these challenges daily, our country’s need for a comprehensive care agenda must be front and center. This agenda includes paid leave, affordable and accessible child care, disability and aging care, and good jobs for care workers.”
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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.