When the COVID-19 pandemic—and the subsequent economic collapse—hit, the United States’ longstanding care crisis was laid bare. Without critical public policies to support workers with caregiving responsibilities, more people than ever before, disproportionately women and women of color, are being forced to make impossible choices between caring for themselves and their loved ones and their economic security.
A just and equitable recovery will require creative thinking and new approaches to caregiving policies to ensure that all working people have the tools they need and that those tools help to promote racial, gender, and, economic justice. Now is the time to build upon the last two decades of substantial policy and cultural progress on care at the local, state, and national levels, to show the common ground between workers’ interests and business interests, and to think boldly and creatively about the future.
A Better Balance and the Better Life Lab at New America invite you to a virtual event featuring workers, caregivers, thought leaders, business experts and work-family justice advocates to hear from the front lines about what workers who need to care for themselves or loved ones are facing in today’s profoundly difficult economic climate, and to come together to strategize on a blueprint for progress and policy innovation for the care infrastructure this country needs.