Podcast Summary
Recognizing Care as a Public Good: The US lacks comprehensive family policies, burdening families with essential care expenses and disproportionately affecting marginalized communities. Advocates are pushing for transformative investments in children and caregiving to recognize care as a public good.
The United States is facing a care crisis where essential services like childcare, elder care, and family leave are not treated as public goods but rather as private costs. This puts a heavy burden on families, particularly women, and disproportionately affects marginalized communities. The lack of comprehensive family policies in the US, compared to other developed countries, leaves many families struggling to afford these necessary expenses. However, there is hope for change as advocates like Ai-jen Poo and Heather McGhee are pushing for transformative investments in children and caregiving through initiatives like the Build Back Better Act. This conversation highlights the importance of recognizing care as an essential public good and addressing the crisis to ensure that all families can thrive.
The unsustainable privatized view of care and its impact on society: 20% of Americans care for adults or children with special needs, primarily women, creating an unsustainable system. Pandemic exposed the need for infrastructure and workforce to support care, a fundamental requirement for society and economy. Investing in care as a win-win-win solution benefits children, working parents, and aging parents.
The privatized view of care as a personal responsibility rather than a public good is unsustainable and creates a house of cards situation for society. AARP's study shows that over 20% of Americans are caring for an adult or child with special needs, with many feeling they had no choice in taking on this role. This unpaid and underpaid work primarily falls on women, making the system unsustainable even before the pandemic. The pandemic exposed the need for infrastructure and a workforce to support care, as it is a fundamental requirement for society and the economy. Failure to address care crises hurts everyone, as all of us will need care at some point in our lives. Investing in care as a win-win-win solution would improve outcomes for children, give working parents and family caregivers more freedom, and allow aging parents to live with dignity.
Investing in a sustainable care work system: Investing in a comprehensive care work system ensures access to care for all, living wages for care workers, and a stronger economy and society.
Investing in a comprehensive care work system is essential for ensuring that individuals of all ages and abilities have access to the care they need, while also providing care workers with sustainable wages and economic security. The current state of care work, particularly in sectors like elder care and child care, leaves many workers struggling to make ends meet, leading to high turnover rates. The vision is for a world where every person can access affordable and available care across their lifespan, with care workers earning living wages and receiving the respect and dignity they deserve. This vision includes affordable childcare, paid family and medical leave, and universal access to long-term care. While this may seem expensive, it is an investment in the future of our economy and society as a whole. The average wage for home health aids in the US is just $18,200 per year, a poverty wage that forces many dedicated care workers to leave the profession for better paying jobs. With a more sustainable care work system, we can retain these essential workers and ensure that they are able to care for their own families while caring for ours.
Investing in care as public infrastructure saves money and supports families: Investing in home and community-based care services is cost-effective in the long run, saving taxpayers and states significant money compared to nursing home care, and essential for supporting families and individuals.
Investing in care as public infrastructure, such as quality child care and long-term care for elders, is not only necessary for supporting families and individuals, but also cost-effective in the long run. Currently, the high costs of care are being borne by individual families in inefficient ways, with the average cost of child care being $9,000 a year and elder care in a nursing home costing over $90,000 per year. By investing in home and community-based services, we can save taxpayers and states significant money, as home care is three times less expensive than nursing home care. Furthermore, framing policies as infrastructure investments can help prioritize the importance of care in the economy, as people need care to go to work just as they need transportation systems and bridges. By valuing and protecting the work of care, we can prevent the collapse of working people, families, and communities, just as neglected infrastructure can lead to structural failures.
Impact of lack of care infrastructure on economy and women's labor force participation: The lack of care infrastructure led to 3.5 million women leaving the workforce during the pandemic, resulting in labor shortages and a $1.6 trillion loss to the economy. Investing in care infrastructure would benefit women, families, and the economy.
The lack of adequate care infrastructure has led to significant consequences for the economy, particularly in relation to women's labor force participation. During the pandemic, over 3.5 million women were pushed out of the workforce due to caregiving challenges, leading to labor shortages in essential industries where women are disproportionately represented. This issue is not new, as rising childcare costs since the 1980s have resulted in a 13% decline in employment for working mothers with young children. If we had kept pace with countries like Norway, which invest heavily in care infrastructure, our economy would be $1.6 trillion larger today. This issue is deeply connected to race and gender, as our economic model assumes that women will take on caregiving responsibilities. It's time for a paradigm shift and to invest in care infrastructure as if we couldn't rely on women to do it for free. This would not only benefit women and families but also the economy as a whole.
Caregiving Crisis: Undervalued and Undersupported Work: The caregiving crisis, fueled by an aging population and high birth rate, leaves many women, especially women of color, undervalued and undersupported due to historical exclusion from labor protections.
The United States is facing a significant caregiving crisis due to the aging population and the high birth rate, leading to a need for more care than ever before. However, our policies, systems, and culture have not kept up with this demographic shift, leaving caregiving work undervalued and undersupported. Women, particularly women of color, have been disproportionately affected by this societal failure. This issue has its roots in the New Deal era when domestic workers and farm laborers were excluded from labor protections, including minimum wage and overtime. This racial exclusion set the tone for how care work has been treated in law and policy for generations. Current regulations around domestic worker protections are still inadequate, leaving many caregivers working for less than minimum wage and without overtime pay. The opportunity exists to address this issue and heal the racial wound it has left behind.
Home care workers left behind in labor rights progress: The Biden administration's Build Back Better Act aims to invest in home care services and raise wages for workers, but its passage is being held up, underscoring the need for continued advocacy to address labor disparities and ensure fair wages for all.
While progress has been made in protecting the rights and wages of domestic workers in the U.S., particularly through the efforts of the National Domestic Workers Union in the 1970s and the Obama administration, home care workers have been left behind. Up until recently, it was legal in many states to pay home care workers less than the minimum wage. The Build Back Better Act, introduced by the Biden administration, aims to change this by investing $150 billion in home and community-based services, with the goal of expanding access to care and raising wages for home care workers, who are predominantly women of color. However, the passage of this bill has been held up due to political considerations, highlighting the ongoing need for advocacy and public engagement to address the ongoing reliance on unpaid and underpaid labor and to ensure that all workers, regardless of race and gender, receive the protections and wages they deserve.
Transforming care jobs into valuable ones: We can create a more equitable economy by recognizing the value of care workers, challenging the devaluation of reproductive labor, and advocating for policies that support caregivers.
We have an opportunity to transform jobs in the care economy into good, meaningful jobs that provide economic mobility and security for future generations. However, this won't happen without advocacy from those directly affected. It's important to remember the history of missed opportunities, such as the vetoed 1971 bill for universal childcare, and the role racism and sexism played in hindering progress. To move forward, we must challenge the narrative that care work is less valuable than other forms of labor and reframe it as a collective social responsibility. This requires an economic paradigm shift, recognizing the value of care workers who produce human potential and dignity. As Ai-jen Poo emphasizes, our dominant economic paradigm often devalues women's reproductive labor, treating it like natural resources. By acknowledging and addressing these issues, we can create a more equitable economy where caregivers are valued and respected.
The Current Economic Model's Assumptions of Infinite Resources and Undervalued Care Work: By 2030, care jobs could be the largest occupation in the US economy, yet they are currently poverty wage jobs. The Build Back Better bill aims to address this issue by investing in care jobs to create good jobs and ensure sustainable care for all.
Our current economic model relies on the assumption of infinite natural resources and undervalued care work, primarily done by women. This model is no longer sustainable, and we need to prioritize investments in these fundamental resources to build a future economic model. By 2030, care jobs could be the largest occupation in the US economy, and they are currently poverty wage jobs. The Build Back Better bill aims to address this issue by providing free preschool, making childcare affordable for low-income families, and offering paid family and medical leave. Critics argue that scaling up quality childcare and elder care could result in lower quality services, but studies like Head Start show significant benefits for children. Ultimately, the question is whether we can trust the government to take care of our loved ones effectively. The choice is between continuing to exploit care work or investing in it to create good jobs and ensure sustainable care for all.
Building a strong care infrastructure for all families: The government plays a crucial role in delivering high-quality care services and supports at a large scale, essential for providing choices and real options for families, particularly those in the working class and low-income brackets. Progress requires perseverance and long-term commitment.
Building a strong care infrastructure is essential for providing choices and real options for all families, particularly those in the working class and low-income brackets. The government plays a crucial role in delivering high-quality care services and supports at a large scale, which the market cannot achieve due to its focus on profit margins. Perseverance and long-term commitment are necessary for making progress on issues that seem insurmountable, as demonstrated by the recent victories in investing in childcare and home care subsidies. Women, women of color, and other marginalized groups have long advocated for the importance of care and the care economy. It takes collective engagement and a collaborative effort from all stakeholders to create meaningful change.
The crucial role of black women in care workforce progress: Black women's resilience and activism led to unionization of 400k home care workers and mobilized millions of voters. Next: expand care infrastructure with longer leave, universal childcare, and fair wages.
The role of black women in the care workforce, exemplified by pioneers like Dorothy Bolden, has been instrumental in setting the stage for recent policy changes. The perseverance and power of women and women of color, including the efforts of the National Domestic Workers Union and SEIU, have led to significant progress, such as the unionization of over 400,000 home care workers and the mobilization of millions of voters. However, there is still work to be done, with the next frontier being the expansion of care infrastructure, including longer paid family and medical leave, universal access to childcare and long-term care, and ensuring good wages for all jobs in the care economy. Recommended books for further understanding include "The Sum of Us," "Caste," and "Being Mortal." The passing of the Build Back Better bill marks a significant step forward, but it is a long-term fight for comprehensive care reform.
