In October 2021, the signatures of more than 4.5 million people—Democrats, Republicans and Independents in every state—were delivered to Congress, signifying widespread support for care investments in the Build Back Better plan:
- home care for seniors and people with disabilities;
- paid family and medical leave;
- affordable child care; and
- monthly child tax credits.
Dozens of organizations collected the signatures, including Economic Security Project, MomsRising, Paid Leave for All and SEIU.
Economic Security Project Co-Chair Natalie Foster:
“We cannot pretend that the millions of voices calling for increased access to financial stability in these trying times have been at all unclear. We cannot pretend that we do not have the resources to directly and effectively enable more reliable access to food, housing, and basic care for millions of families and children. With the Build Back Better plan we have a proven policy roadmap that can chip away at the unconscionable inequality that predated the pandemic in America and has only been exacerbated by it."
MomsRising Executive Director and CEO Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner:
"We must finally end the days when families can’t afford child care, working people lose their jobs when a baby comes or illness strikes, people with disabilities and the aging are forced into institutions because they can’t access in-home care, and tens of millions of children are raised in poverty."
Paid Leave for All Director Dawn Huckelbridge:
"Paid leave is a tool for public health, economic security and growth, and racial and gender equity. Paid leave is also one of the most widely supported policies in the country, in battlegrounds and beyond. And yet, we remain one of the only countries in the world without it. We know that passing care policies would yield millions of jobs, billions in wages, and trillions in GDP, and would be a profound legacy for this Administration and Congress."
SEIU 2015 President April Verrett:
"Care work is the cornerstone of the American economy and is at the center of our communities across the country and throughout our family life. And it’s long past time we expand access to care for those who need it and reward the contributions of caregivers, especially women of color who have been carrying us through this COVID crisis and who have shown up and delivered change at the ballot box."
