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I am a mother on a mission to help all mothers, and all child care providers, get the care, support, and respect they deserve.
This looks like universal healthcare, including free and unbridled access to maternity and reproductive care.
This looks like an economy that fairly compensates women, especially women of color, for their work.
And perhaps most importantly, this looks like passage of the Early Learning Child Care Act, a bill that would put us on the path to truly universal, fully-subsidized child care and finally pay childcare workers what they deserve.
We advanced a lot when it came to child care this budget, but we didn’t go far enough. We didn’t win universal child care because the advancements do not cover undocumented families. If we’re not making sure all our children receive care, immigrant women of color will continue to to be overworked, no matter how nice breakfast in bed today might have been.
Speaking of being overworked, we must guarantee a living wage for child care providers. We need an economy that makes sure the workers, largely women of color, are able to take care of themselves and their own families as we ask them to take care of New York’s children, as well.
I had the privilege of being quite involved in my boys’ child care, but there were many times in which an accessible, affordable child care option would have been invaluable for my family. There are millions of mothers throughout New York for whom this is not a luxury, but a necessity.
We all deserve better, for ourselves and our kids.
This Mother’s Day, I am sending you love, solidarity, and a promise to keep fighting for the support that all caretakers deserve.
With love,
Jessica
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