Dear John,

This week, leaders in the House of Representatives introduced a new bill to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating economic impacts.

The House’s proposal goes a long way toward stabilizing the basic needs of millions by expanding access to paid leave and health coverage, stabilizing housing and nutrition, and providing direct payments to working families nationwide. This bill would help ensure no one is forced to choose between their job and their safety, but still, the scale of this crisis requires far more, especially for women on the front lines.

That’s why a coalition of organizations, including the National Women’s Law Center, recently launched the We Demand More campaign. Women are being left behind and left out of the COVID-19 response. During this crisis we are more likely to lose our jobs, are often care takers at home, and in some cases, our rights are under attack by the very leaders who are supposed to be helping us. Will you join us in making sure Congress fights for women on the front lines too?

To start, the new House bill still does not provide enough funding for our child care system, including the millions of child care workers who are women. Without a more robust investment in our nation’s child care system, women and caregivers will be devastated by any attempt to reopen the economy and our country as a whole will suffer for it. And without underlying reforms to unemployment protections that respond to economic conditions rather than arbitrary deadlines and include new jobseekers, we risk turning off economic aid before the worst of the recession is over.

The strength and courage of women is on display nationwide as both essential workers and those most likely to face the pain of this recession. We must not let their future and their potential be put at risk. Please join us in telling Congress: We Demand More. Please join us in telling Congress: We Demand More.

Thank you!
Uma Iyer
Vice President for Marketing and Communications
National Women's Law Center