From Moms Rising (https://www.momsrising.org/):
We’re two weeks into 2022 and in some ways it feels like 2020. The virus is surging, there are staffing shortages in our schools,[1] grocery stores, and hospitals, and the relief many families were relying on, didn’t arrive.
Go to https://action.momsrising.org/sign/PaidLeave
NowNotLater to tell Congress: It’s past time to pass the Build Back Better Act with paid leave for all. We need you to get this done.
If you’re anything like the millions of moms and families around the country, you might be feeling nervous, stressed and angry. The Omicron variant is wreaking havoc on our families, businesses and our care infrastructure. Our healthcare system is stretched thin while essential workers and employees manage the health of their patients, their own health and that of their loved ones.
And nationwide, those with school age children are dealing with a variety of challenges with school closures, rapidly spreading COVID and no safety net like access to paid leave or the monthly Child Tax Credit.
During the first week of January alone, more than 5,000 schools were closed for in-person learning leaving parents scrambling to figure out how to take time away from work to care for their children. [2] The rapid spread of Omicron has contributed to a rise in Covid-19 cases; with more than 700,000 new cases per day. [3] What we need right now are family friendly policies like paid family and medical leave and we have to reinstate the monthly Child Tax Credit that lifted so many children out of poverty in 2021.
At a time when caregivers, moms, moms of color and their families are doing their best to maintain some sense of normalcy, parents who do not have dependable child care are deciding whether or not to keep their children home, workers who do not have access to paid family and medical leave are deciding whether or not they can go into work and businesses are struggling to stay afloat.
We need a permanent and comprehensive paid family and medical leave program now and not later. And the U.S. Senate can do that by passing the Build Back Better Act.
Working families need access to paid leave in order to take time off when a new child arrives, to recover from childbirth, to care for themselves or for an aging adult or family member with a disability when a health emergency arises. The U.S. is the only industrialized country that does not offer a mandated paid family leave program.
This is absurd and we’ll keep saying so until it changes! And we hope you’ll join us!
Only 20% of private sector workers,[4] including 8% of the lowest wage earners, have access to some form of paid family and medical leave. [5] You shouldn’t have to win the boss lottery in order to have access to paid leave. People of color disproportionately lack access to paid family and medical leave. Passing the Build Back Better Act with paid family and medical leave would help address the structural inequities in our systems that are disproportionately experienced by people of color.
To be honest, right now many families don’t have the luxury of time. Families, small businesses and our nation can’t afford to wait. We need to let our Senators know that we are counting on them to do what’s right, we are asking them to pass paid family and medical leave in the Build Back Better Act and to pass it now.
*Please take a moment to post this action link on your social media networks like Facebook and Twitter; and to share with friends and family too. The more of us who take action, the more powerful we are together. Here’s that link again to take action! https://action.momsrising.org/sign/PaidLeaveNowNotLater
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