Bowman, Warren Introduce Care for All Agenda to Expand and Revitalize the Care Economy

 

Reps. Bush, Clarke, Jayapal, Meng, Ocasio-Cortez, Pressley, and Williams Co-Lead Resolution Supported by 80+ Organizations to Protect Care Workers and Guarantee Care for All

 Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) on Monday announced 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 child care, 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.

 

Co-leading the resolution are Reps. Cori Bush (D-MO), Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Grace Meng (D-NY), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), and Nikema Williams (D-GA). The resolution has also been endorsed by more than 80 local, state, and national advocacy organizations. 

 

"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,” Rep. 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,” Sen. 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."

 

“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,” Rep. Bush said. “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.”

Co-sponsoring the resolution are Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), André Carson (D-IN), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Debbie Dingell (D-MI), Jesús G. “Chuy” García (D-IL), Sara Jacobs (D-CA), Nydia Velázquez (D-NY), Ro Khanna (D-CA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Mondaire Jones (D-NY), Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), Brendan F. Boyle (D-PA), Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Michael F.Q. San Nicolas (D-GU), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Jerrod Nadler (D-NY), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL).

 

Click here for a copy of the resolution text, and click here for a summary of the resolution.