Dear John,
Women's HIstory Month is winding down, and I'm angry that the women who are supposed to be centered this month continue to be overlooked.
Nannies, housecleaners, and care workers – almost all women of color – are still struggling to feed themselves and their families. Nearly 8 in 10 experience food insecurity and a majority are unable to pay their monthly rent or mortgage, according to a recent survey.
There is a horrific and long history of exploiting, underpaying, and abusing women of color domestic workers in this country.
That's why we are ramping up our advocacy and organizing efforts to win a historic investment in our care infrastructure through the upcoming reconciliation bill and get the National Domestic Worker Bill of Rights through the house this year.
Even before the pandemic, domestic workers earned less than the average US worker and were three times as likely to be living in poverty.
Despite their importance to American families, domestic workers have been underpaid and undervalued for too long due to intersecting legacies of discrimination and exploitation.
It shouldn’t and doesn’t have to be this way.
We are working alongside the women who power this movement to win historic change that will begin to reverse generations of discrimination and exploitation against low-paid domestic workers, and we need your support to keep this up.
Domestic workers are the women who bore the brunt of the effects of the pandemic and who continue to feel the brutal impact of its economic fallout. As we usher out this Women’s History Month, you can honor them and help make sure they get access to the rights and benefits they have been denied for far too long.
With gratitude,
Kaylyn Kvochak, Senior Development Director
National Domestic Workers Alliance