Press release: Mothers, Caregivers Demand Funds in CARES 2 Stimulus Bill
PRESS RELEASE…PRESS RELEASE…PRESS RELEASE…PRESS RELEASE…
Mothers & Other Caregivers Demand Funds
in CARES 2 Stimulus Bill
Where is the relief package for us?
RE: CARES2 Stimulus Legislation
From: Every Mother is a Working Mother; Global Women’s Strike; Women of Color in the Global Women’s Strike
Contact: Margaret Prescod 323-646-1269, Phoebe Jones 610-505-4944
Date: May 4, 2020
Mothers and other unwaged primary caregivers announced measures they say must be included in the current and future relief/stimulus legislation being debated in Congress. Caregivers, on whom so many depend, especially right now, desperately need elected officials to include money for unwaged caregivers, paid directly to the primary caregiver, in the CARES 2 Stimulus Package. We are frontline essential workers, but where is the relief package for us?
We join with caregivers in 35 countries who are demanding a Care Income for those now unwaged who are caring for children, elders, people with disabilities and for the environment. Our caregiving workload has increased substantially with Covid-19. Covid-19 exposed that caregivers are counted on for everyone’s survival, but rather than make resources available to us we are expected to work harder and without an income.
Those of us who are at risk of or are victims of domestic violence must have the resources to get to safety. Taking our children away by the child welfare system because we are poor or victims of domestic violence must end. Poverty was a crisis for us before Covid and has deepened since. 70% of the poor in the US are women and our children. The safety net must be restored and work requirements to get relief abolished. We agree with the Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis of The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival who said: “Take away our poverty, not our children.”
The most impoverished caregivers and our families are hardest hit. Just look at the disproportionate infection and death rates among Black, Latino and Indigenous communities. Cash assistance and other resources must be available to the communities most affected.
The measures in response to COVID-19 show that the US government can take swift action and find money to deal with “emergencies” – it is a question of political will. And there is plenty of money: the US has 607 billionaires; the top eight richest billionaires own as much combined wealth as “half the human race”. The US military budget keeps rising and pays for bases all over the world. It’s about time caregivers are prioritized, this helps ensure health everywhere.
CARES 1 provided direct payments to some, but left out many while it profited large corporations and banks. Much more is needed and unwaged caregivers must be included.
For more on what caregivers and families are asking Representatives in Congress to fight for, see our full list of demands
· More healthcare is provided by unwaged caregivers than all healthcare institutions worldwide.
· $470 billion is the value of unwaged caregiving for adults (not even including care for children) in the US (AARP).
· 34 billion hours per day is how much time women & girls spend on caregiving work worldwide.
· $143,000 a year is what US moms would earn if we were paid for all the unwaged jobs we do, with overtime, according to Salary.com. · Yet women & children are 73% of the poor in the US.