Caregiving Crisis: When can we start learning from society's mistakes?
Relief plans (really?), women of color bear unemployment burden and a picture that'll make you feel seen and completely ignored at the same time
Hey everyone,
This week we’ve been doing a lot of talking at our house about mistakes. My virtual kindergartener was beside himself with frustration that his lopsided drawing of a penny didn’t match the perfect shape by his teacher. He was so upset with each restart that by the time his peers were showing off their work on Google Hangout, he was left empty-handed. Cue the tears1. (Bless his father who dealt with all this while I was trapped in meetings.)
Our son’s teacher called to talk about how everyone makes mistakes. They’re only mistakes if we don’t learn from them. We all have to start somewhere. We got a PDF handout with Mario encouraging any mistake-maker to learn, enlist friends, grow and try again. And come out on the other side bigger and able to smash oompas.
Last week the New York Times in its massive “The Primal Screen” package pored over angle after angle of the caregiver crisis. All the mistakes American society has made with caregivers and their fallout. Who is hurting, how they’re hurting and why. It was the first time a top-tier media outlet focused so intensely on these topics. Finally. Hooray.
But it felt a bit like preaching to the choir. We get it. We live it. It sucks. Now what? I saw more than a few moms say online they weren’t interested unless there are solutions.
Same.
Yes, the pandemic has blown into the forefront our society’s shoddy support of caregivers. But are we learning from our mistakes? Or will we come up empty-handed too?
That’s why I started this newsletter — to empower caregivers with information, context and knowledge so we can start to ask how we can fix what’s so clearly broken. In the weeks ahead, we’ll broaden our focus to what other countries are doing. For now, we’re trying to wrap our heads around the mess that is the U.S. Thanks for reading and sharing. As always, solidarity.
What To Know About the Caregiving Crisis This Week
SOLUTION WATCH: PAYMENTS FOR PARENTS — U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have proposals that would send money to American parents each month with no strings attached. This is far more equitable than the current system of tax credits, which leave out a third of all children from accessing that benefit. It would also give parents money each month, as opposed to just once a year.
The details:
The plans would send $250-$350 a month to parents of kids 17 and younger, with larger payments for children under 6.
Republican Sen. Mitt Romney's Family Security Act would offer up to $15,000 a year (Vox) and replace the child tax credit, worth up to $2,000 a year per child. Nearly everyone would get it. Romney's proposal would phase out for wealthy parents at $200,000 for single filers and joint filers with $400,000 in annual income.
The Democratic plan, which could pass as part of the $1.9 trillion economic relief package — would provide $3,600 a year for children under 6 and $3,000 for kids 6-17 (Washington Post). Monthly payments would go out starting in July. The size of the benefit drops for single filers earning $75,000 or more a year, or couples earning more than $150,000.
Thank a woman. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), has been trying to get some type of extension of the child tax credit passed since 2003 and for years has been the lone voice on the topic, reports the 19th via Ms. Magazine. She activated quickly after Biden took office, though his version of the plan calls for some improvements for one year — DeLauro wants them longer. There's a real pay-off. The National Academy of Sciences has found that a $3,000-a-year child tax credit could reduce deep poverty by half, improving the lives and livelihoods of children and future workers…and current caregivers.
Bottom line: These proposals aim to slash child poverty, increase fertility and provide relief for parents struggling with the increasing costs of raising children. They could also shift perception, ingrained in the U.S. psyche, that raising children is a private responsibility. Instead, children are the future.2 They benefit society and deserve public support, no matter the family’s status. Many countries have some form of universal child benefit policy: Finland, Germany, Estonia, Denmark, Indonesia and more. (UNICEF lays it all out.) Clearly, there’s a benefit far beyond to parents. Will the U.S. come to its senses?
“Children are future productive members of society, and their total benefit to society is greater than their benefit to their parents alone,” Kasey Buckles, an economist at Notre Dame, told the New York Times.
WOMEN OF COLOR BEAR UNEMPLOYMENT BURDEN — Last week we started to unpack the first U.S. jobs report of 2021. (TLDR; another 275,00 women dropped out of the workforce in January. That means 2.3 million women have left the labor force since February 2020 vs 1.8 million men. The women's labor force participation rate tumbles to a 33-year low, reports the National Women's Law Center.)
This week we'll look at the data by demographics, now that the media is highlighting it. Hats off to The 19th (newish, women-focused media outlet) for consistently covering these inequities. We wish the findings weren’t in niche publications though. Rallying cry: This is economic news. Not a women’s issue.
The latest: In January, the overall unemployment rate for women was 6% (better than the overall population rate of 6.3%.) But it's far worse by demographics:
Unemployment for Black women rose to 8.5% in January from 8.4% in December.
Numbers for Asian women rose to 7.9% from 6.6% (though not seasonally adjusted due to the small data set).
Latinas’ unemployment rate improved to 8.8% from 9.1% — but they're more likely to be out of work than any other group of women.
Unemployment for white women improved to 5.1% from 5.7%, better than the overall rate for women.
Bottom line: The pandemic takes and it takes. Populations that were already at a disadvantage are hurting even more, as the numbers make clear. How will this further exacerbate inequities? What can we/lawmakers/society do to help?
ONE MORE THING ABOUT ‘THE PRIMAL SCREAM’ – One of the most eye-catching articles in the NYT series followed three mothers scattered throughout the country since September. The moms logged their days by text, email, audio and sat for dozens of interviews and photos. (TBH it sounds like a lot of work. Kudos to these women for adding to their load for the greater good.) The emergent "story of chaos and resilience, resentment and persistence, and of course, hope" documents the experience infuriatingly well. H/T to Caregiving Crisis reader AS for pointing out this shocking-yet-very-normal picture of a mom helping her young child while her husband works in the room next door. Spoiler alert: this mom is on a work call, too.
Bottom line: It’s possible to feel seen and completely ignored at the same time.
Signing off
Thanks for reading. We’ll be following the legislation debate in Washington closely as there seems to be real momentum there. Please send thoughts, articles, gifs, recipes — any and all feedback. Hang in there. If you like what you see, please spread the word.
Caregiving Crisis is a newsletter written by Emily Fredrix Goodman. We aim to publish weekly but other things may get in the way.