Dear John,
Friday was national caregivers’ day — a day on which we honor the work of the often underappreciated care workers who make our world function. Caregiving labor is gendered and racialized labor — and therefore is often undercompensated or even uncompensated. More than one in five Americans are unpaid caregivers — and more often than not, they’re women.
Fifty-nine percent of caregivers already face financial burdens, and women caregivers face additional disadvantages — they are two and a half times more likely to live in poverty than male caregivers. We’re not just talking about the people who work in nursing homes, daycares or medical facilities, or who work in other people’s houses taking care of children or taking care of those who are older or ill.
We’re also talking about the women who left the labor force in droves during the pandemic because they needed to do care work in a sphere that is universally uncompensated: their own homes. And now, the pandemic recovery has largely bypassed many of these women: in last month’s employment report, women are largely missing from the gains. In January, men were rejoining the workforce at 27 times the rate of women — underscoring the need for systemic changes like pay equality and childcare infrastructure.
Complicating women’s return to the paid workforce is the end of the Child Tax Credit (CTC), which expired in December. Many caregivers across the country will lose a vital source of income—and child poverty rates across the U.S. will surge. Experts estimate that for Black and Latino children, the poverty rate will jump to over 25 percent.
Policies like President Biden’s long-stalled Build Back Better act and the Equal Rights Amendment — that has been ratified but as yet not recognized officially — would help women achieve the economic equality that our foremothers fought for.
And a final thought — Monday is Presidents’ Day. Last year, I mistakenly announced to the Ms. team that it’s one of the holidays we don’t celebrate, because there had never been a woman president, and until there is we wouldn’t be giving it off as a paid holiday.
As I said, I was mistaken, but we’ve decided from now on to call it “Madam Presidents’ Day,” in honor of Vice President Kamala Harris (who served as President for 85 minutes earlier this year when President Biden was undergoing a colonoscopy). We also celebrate women presidents and elected leaders of other countries — and all the future Madam Presidents this country desperately needs.
We’ll resume our “Today at Ms.” newsletter on Tuesday, and until then — enjoy Madam Presidents’ Day!
