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Dear Friend,
A normal end of August is often all about enjoying the waning days of summer vacation before the return to school, but this August is anything but normal. When my district announced its back-to-school plan, the house of cards that is my child care, my ability to work, and my overall sanity collapsed.
I know I am not alone.
We can’t fix what we each face individually by piecing together ad hoc solutions. We need permanent solutions and we need them now. The U.S. House passed updated COVID-19 relief weeks ago. But Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is stalling. He needs to get moving.
Moms are spent -- at wit’s end -- running on empty. We have used all the tools in our toolbox, we are depleted, and we have no more favors to call in. In this pandemic, when everything is harder, costs more, and takes more time, we can’t be moms, childcare providers, teachers, breadwinners, nurses, and play a dozen other roles all at the same time.
If it wasn’t clear before, it certainly is now! We need national workplace protections including affordable, accessible child care and health care, fair pay, paid family/medical leave and earned sick days, and emergency measures to improve access to food and housing. Without systemic change, we know no mom can juggle it all alone. We also know that together, we can make the changes we all need.
CLICK HERE to tell the U.S. Senate to do its job and behave like the leaders we deserve.
Moms have their priorities straight -- and time and time again we get our jobs done. Look at the facts. Nearly nine in ten women in our country become moms [1], and the vast majority of moms are in the paid labor force [2]. We’re also providing unpaid caregiving labor that is irreplaceable and worth trillions of dollars per year [3]. Now, moms are being disproportionately forced out of the labor force in this she-cession [4]. That’s devastating for families and our economy [5].
At my house, I am the organizer, I make sure everyone gets up on time and gets where they need to be, and I make sure that they have everything they need. But I can’t keep doing it alone. I need a fair wage to support my family, earned sick time and paid leave to care for my family, and quality child care I can afford so that I can do my JOB! With school out I am a teacher’s aide, the cafeteria worker, and at times the hallway monitor. I simply can’t keep up.
Moms know what we need - true investment in the programs that matter for families and lift our economy. Fully funded schools so that they can have social workers, nurses and supports for students instead of police officers and armed guards. Unemployment insurance that will be there should we need it and cover our basic needs, health care to ensure we all survive this crisis, and a plan with adequate funds that gives us all the help we deserve. Child care infrastructure investments for infants and toddlers, and now thanks to the pandemic, additional child care for school aged children so we can go to work.
*Please also forward this email and post the action link on your social media. The more of us who raise our voices, the faster we’ll get the U.S. Senate back to work.
Thank you! - Christina, Kristin, and the MomsRising Team
References:
[1] https://action.momsrising.org/go/67042?t=14&akid=14271%2E2840598%2EMkqvdL
[2] https://action.momsrising.org/go/67496?t=17&akid=14271%2E2840598%2EMkqvdL/
[3] https://action.momsrising.org/go/67497?t=19&akid=14271%2E2840598%2EMkqvdL
[4] https://action.momsrising.org/go/67498?t=21&akid=14271%2E2840598%2EMkqvdL
[5] https://action.momsrising.org/go/67499?t=23&akid=14271%2E2840598%2EMkqvdL
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