Congresswoman Cori Bush Co-Introduces Care for All Agenda to Expand and Revitalize the Care Economy
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Cori Bush (MO-01) joined Rep. Jamaal Bowman (NY-16) and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in the introduction of a resolution to dramatically expand and strengthen the care economy and improve conditions and compensations for care workers nationwide.
Just as our physical infrastructure is crumbling, the United States today suffers from a lack of care infrastructure. Millions are struggling to access childcare, health care, long-term supports and services, and paid family and medical leave. Growing numbers of care workers, disproportionately women of color and immigrants, face poverty wages and exploitation; along with education, social assistance, and other essential workers, they are on the frontlines of multiple crises in our society. Investing in care work and programs can boost the economy, meet people’s fundamental needs, and help us face the challenges of the 21st century and beyond.
The resolution calls for far-reaching public investments to guarantee the care people need at all stages of life, and to ensure caregivers and care workers are treated with the dignity they deserve. That must include raising pay, benefits, protections, and standards for all care workers, ensuring pathways to unionization, and creating millions of new care jobs over the next decade.
“When I worked in childcare, I could not afford to send my own children to the center where I worked. We can no longer wait to guarantee basic protections for our families, communities, and workers,” said Congresswoman Cori Bush. “We must guarantee paid leave, high quality and affordable childcare, home and community-based care, and long-term care for seniors. We must also ensure better benefits and higher wages, especially for our family caregivers, home health aides, domestic workers, childcare providers, and nurses — positions overwhelmingly held by women, many of whom are Black and Latina. As one of a few nurses in Congress, I spent years doing the emotionally grueling labor of love that our care workers do for our communities, only to be paid so little that we can barely make ends meet. We need an economy of care. I’m proud to join Representative Bowman and Senator Warren in introducing the Care for All Agenda that puts everyday people and families first.”
"As we emerge from the pandemic, rescue our economy, and move forward with a national reckoning over systemic racism, we have an historic opportunity to build an America that works for all people — by centering the care that all people need,” Congressman Bowman said. “Care workers, disproportionately Black and brown women, are undervalued and exploited in America today, and people and families struggle to access care. Without a holistic care infrastructure to support us, our economy and society simply cannot thrive. I believe with all my heart that bold, public investments in care for people, communities, and the environment can anchor the rebirth of our country and secure our future."
"The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced that care work is critical infrastructure in our society and how much we’ve undervalued it in the past,” Senator Warren said. “I’m fighting for the Care for All Agenda to dramatically expand and transform the care economy so that no family has to struggle financially when someone needs care."
Reps. Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Grace Meng (NY-06), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), and Nikema Williams (GA-05) also co-lead the resolution which was endorsed by more than 80 local, state, and national advocacy organizations.
Click here for a copy of the resolution text, and click here for a summary of the resolution.
Click here for a list of quotes from supporting organizations, and see below for a full list of organizations supporting the resolution:
1199SEIU - United Healthcare Workers East
AFGE Local 704
American Federation of Teachers
The Arc of the United States
Autism Society of America
Autistic Self Advocacy Network
Bold ReThink
Businesses for a Livable Climate
Call to Action Colorado
Campaign for New York Health
Caring Across Generations
CatholicNetwork.US
Center for Biological Diversity
Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)
Center for LGBTQ Economic Advancement & Research
Citizen Action of New York
Climate Justice Alliance
Closing the Women's Wealth Gap
Community Change Action
Community Voices Heard
CT Citizen Action Group
Democratic Socialists of America
Demos
Disabled Culture
Earth Action, Inc.
Easterseals
Equal Rights Advocates
Family Values at Work
Grassroots Global Justice
Greenpeace USA
Gulf Coast Center for Law and Policy
Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network
Hometown Action
In the Public Interest
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement
Jane Addams Senior Caucus
The Jewish Vote
Jews for Racial & Economic Justice
Justice in Aging
Latinos for Healthcare Equity
LiveOn NY
Maine People's Alliance
Marked By COVID
MomsRising
National ADAPT
National Coalition for the Homeless
National Council of Jewish Women
National Council on Independent Living
National Domestic Workers Alliance
National Partnership for Women and Families
National Women's Law Center
New Hampshire Youth Movement
New York Caring Majority
New York Lawyers for the Public Interest
New York State Nurses Association
The New York Women's Foundation
NYC Democratic Socialists of America
NYCD16-Indivisible
Paid Leave for All
People's Action
The People's Lobby
Pilipino Workers Center of Southern California
PL+US: Paid Leave for the United States
Rapid Shift Network
Rise Up WV
SEIU
Southern Appalachian Labor School
Sunrise Movement
Supermajority
TakeAction Minnesota
TIME'S UP Now
Torah Trumps Hate
UltraViolet
United Vision for Idaho
Women's Environment and Development Organization
WOMEN'S WAY
Working Families Party
WV Citizen Action Group
ZERO TO THREE
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