Ms. Duckworth (for herself and Mr. Wyden) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
RESOLUTION
Recognizing that the United States needs to support and strengthen mothers in the workforce by investing in the Mom Economy.
(1) the United States needs to prioritize a Mom Economy that invests in the caregiving infrastructure required to adequately support and empower mothers in the workforce and sustain a thriving economy;
(2) mothers, especially mothers of color, face systemic economic and social inequalities that restrict their ability to balance parenting responsibilities with workplace roles and limit their professional advancement;
(3) mothers play an integral role not only in the financial well-being of their families but in the productivity of the economy of the United States as a whole;
(4) the United States should invest in its mothers by expanding and developing the social safety net in order to secure meaningful and sustainable economic growth by investing, at a minimum—
(A) in programs—
(i) including—
119th Congress
SR901
A resolution recognizing that the United States needs to support and strengthen mothers in the workforce by investing in the Mom Economy.
Ms. Duckworth (for herself and Mr. Wyden) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
RESOLUTION
Recognizing that the United States needs to support and strengthen mothers in the workforce by investing in the Mom Economy.
(1) the United States needs to prioritize a Mom Economy that invests in the caregiving infrastructure required to adequately support and empower mothers in the workforce and sustain a thriving economy;
(2) mothers, especially mothers of color, face systemic economic and social inequalities that restrict their ability to balance parenting responsibilities with workplace roles and limit their professional advancement;
(3) mothers play an integral role not only in the financial well-being of their families but in the productivity of the economy of the United States as a whole;
(4) the United States should invest in its mothers by expanding and developing the social safety net in order to secure meaningful and sustainable economic growth by investing, at a minimum—
(A) in programs—
(i) including—
(I) robust paid family and medical leave plans for all workers, including—
(aa) paid parental leave following the birth of a child or the placement of a child in adoption or foster care, provided in equal amounts for all parents regardless of gender; and
(bb) paid leave policies that can be used for family caregiving and medical leave for workers; and
(II) paid menstrual leave and remote work accommodations for workers experiencing debilitating menstrual or menopause symptoms; and
(ii) that—
(I) invest in the childcare industry with the goal of providing universal childcare and early learning, including programs that—
(aa) robustly increase funding for the Head Start and Early Head Start programs;
(bb) increase Federal financial support for childcare programs to guarantee that all families have access to affordable and high quality child care; and
(cc) commit to pay childcare workers a dignified, living wage;
(II) increase access to nutritious food and make access to such food a health and human right, including through—
(aa) boosting maximum and minimum benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (commonly referred to as “SNAP”) and removing barriers of access to SNAP, including time restrictions and additional work requirements; and
(bb) increasing funds for school meals and other nutrition programs to combat child hunger and make school meals more accessible;
(III) implement and expand child poverty reduction tools that improve income security, infant and maternal health, and educational and economic outcomes into the second generation, including through implementation of—
(aa) a permanent expansion of the child tax credit; and
(bb) improvements regarding the earned income tax credit, which lifts millions of people above the poverty line each year and boosts labor force participation among single mothers;
(IV) address the maternal mortality crisis of the United States through critical investments in maternal health care, including programs that ensure access to the full range of reproductive health care and family planning; and
(V) raise the Federal minimum wage for all workers, including tipped workers, and adjust the Federal minimum wage on a yearly basis to keep pace with inflation; and
(B) in legislation that—
(i) ensures protections for LGBTQ+ mothers in the workplace, such as the Equality Act; and
(ii) reduces wage discrimination, such as the Paycheck Fairness Act; and
(5) United States policymakers should include a specific focus on working mothers in future policymaking, beyond the aforementioned policies, including by focusing on economic policy, fiscal policy, and social safety net policy, in order to ensure that working mothers and other caregivers can continue to balance their roles as family anchors and caregivers with their work and economic contributions, both to their families and the economy of the United States.
(I) robust paid family and medical leave plans for all workers, including—
(aa) paid parental leave following the birth of a child or the placement of a child in adoption or foster care, provided in equal amounts for all parents regardless of gender; and
(bb) paid leave policies that can be used for family caregiving and medical leave for workers; and
(II) paid menstrual leave and remote work accommodations for workers experiencing debilitating menstrual or menopause symptoms; and
(ii) that—
(I) invest in the childcare industry with the goal of providing universal childcare and early learning, including programs that—
(aa) robustly increase funding for the Head Start and Early Head Start programs;
(bb) increase Federal financial support for childcare programs to guarantee that all families have access to affordable and high quality child care; and
(cc) commit to pay childcare workers a dignified, living wage;
(II) increase access to nutritious food and make access to such food a health and human right, including through—
(aa) boosting maximum and minimum benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (commonly referred to as “SNAP”) and removing barriers of access to SNAP, including time restrictions and additional work requirements; and
(bb) increasing funds for school meals and other nutrition programs to combat child hunger and make school meals more accessible;
(III) implement and expand child poverty reduction tools that improve income security, infant and maternal health, and educational and economic outcomes into the second generation, including through implementation of—
(aa) a permanent expansion of the child tax credit; and
(bb) improvements regarding the earned income tax credit, which lifts millions of people above the poverty line each year and boosts labor force participation among single mothers;
(IV) address the maternal mortality crisis of the United States through critical investments in maternal health care, including programs that ensure access to the full range of reproductive health care and family planning; and
(V) raise the Federal minimum wage for all workers, including tipped workers, and adjust the Federal minimum wage on a yearly basis to keep pace with inflation; and
(B) in legislation that—
(i) ensures protections for LGBTQ+ mothers in the workplace, such as the Equality Act; and
(ii) reduces wage discrimination, such as the Paycheck Fairness Act; and
(5) United States policymakers should include a specific focus on working mothers in future policymaking, beyond the aforementioned policies, including by focusing on economic policy, fiscal policy, and social safety net policy, in order to ensure that working mothers and other caregivers can continue to balance their roles as family anchors and caregivers with their work and economic contributions, both to their families and the economy of the United States.
