From Moms Rising (https://www.momsrising.org/):
We’ve been reaching out on child care a lot recently – and YOU have been responding by taking the critical actions needed to truly uplift our families and save our economy by demanding comprehensive, affordable, high-quality child care and Pre-K system! Because of you we have gotten this far – thank you!
Now we’re here again, coming to you as a parent, an advocate, a caregiver (roles most likely shared in common with many of you), asking you to help keep up the drumbeat on this critical issue that impacts us all.
THIS IS NOT A DRILL! Child care, and our families, are in danger of being left out of the next economic package! Between now and tomorrow can you double down on your commitment to push for child care by taking these 3 actions?
SIGN OUR PETITION at https://action.momsrising.org/sign/Child_Care_rapid_response telling Senators that they MUST include child care and pre-k in the economic package!
MAKE A QUICK PHONE CALL – Text “ChildcareNow” to 747464 and enter your zip code, and you’ll be connected to your senator’s office! Tell them it’s time to #SolveChildCare!
TWEET – If you’re on Twitter, then use the links below to quickly and easily tweet this message to each of your senators: “Congress cannot leave families behind. It’s time to #SolveChildCare. Child care and Pre-K MUST be included in the reconciliation package!”
Tweet to Sen. Casey (@SenBobCasey)
Tweet to Sen. Toomey (@SenToomey)
Right now, Congress is working on the economic reconciliation package, which should include critical child care and Pre-K investments needed to solve the ongoing child care crisis and lower costs for families, BUT reports suggest that lawmakers are considering abandoning child care and pursuing legislation without it!
We cannot let that happen.
Right now, nearly half a million families are estimated to be stranded without reliable child care, exacerbating the nation’s worker shortage as parents continue to stay home. [1] The infuriating part of all of this is that already, pre-pandemic, more than half of families lived in child care deserts without safe, nurturing, affordable options to begin with. [2]
And, even though it seemed like the labor market has made positive gains this past January, it turns out that 27 times more men than women joined the labor force during this time, [3] child care being one of the primary reasons behind this. Women and moms are still being hit hard. Too many of us were tasked with carrying ALL the burden during the pandemic, and after all this, we may still not get the relief and support we ACTUALLY need!
Moms, dads, and concerned people from around the country are urging you to fight for us by ensuring that critical investments in comprehensive, high-quality child care and Pre-K for families stay in the reconciliation package!
The economic package currently being negotiated is the only viable opportunity to secure the funding required to support a strong, stable early learning system in America and lower costs for families at this critical moment.
16,000 child care centers closed during the pandemic. A recent report shows that nearly half a million families are estimated to be stranded without reliable child care, exacerbating the nation’s worker shortage as parents continue to stay home.
Pre-pandemic, more than 1/2 of families already lived in child care deserts without safe, nurturing, affordable options to begin with!
Also, though it seemed like the labor market made positive gains these past few months, it turns out that 27 times more men than women joined the labor force during this time, and the majority of women who did find employment were first-time workers. That means moms are still struggling to find the child care they need to work, which is exacerbating labor shortages that are causing supply chain issues.
Ensuring that child care stays in the package increases parental choice and supports a diversity of providers to expand their services by providing the resources needed to respond to a market failure. These policies will lower costs for families and will help take the edge off of inflation by improving parents’ labor force participation and productivity.
We have the resources to truly support our families, but we need the political will to do the right thing. Child care and Pre-K must be included in the reconciliation package!
Remember, to sign, call (Text “ChildcareNow” to 747464 and enter your zip code, and you’ll be connected to your senator’s office!) and/or tweet to let your senators know that child care and Pre-K MUST be included in the reconciliation package!
Tweet to Sen. Casey (@SenBobCasey)
Tweet to Sen. Toomey (@SenToomey)
Your voices matter, our struggles matter and together we know we can make the impact so many families need.
Thank you for continuing to take action for child care!
References:
[1] https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/01/economy/child-care-wells-fargo-labor-force/index.html[2] https://www.americanprogress.org/article/americas-child-care-deserts-2018
[3] https://nwlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Jan-Jobs-Day.pdf
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