Celebrating and Grieving Build Back Better

Yesterday, the White House released their framework for the Build Back Better plan. It has a lot of powerful pieces - climate action, childcare, caregiving for aging adults. But it’s missing a critical element that was part of the package until the last moment: Paid Family and Medical Leave. 

The caregiving infrastructure that was included was important, however, it is overwhelmingly targeted at getting people back to work. But the pandemic has shown us that sometimes people cannot or should not be in the workplace. It’s time to acknowledge that we need to create systems that help people *not work* when not working is the right answer. 

Going back to work sometimes isn’t safe for families with high risk of illness. 

Caring for our families ourselves - our children, our aging parents, our spouses - matters and is worthy of support. 

Our community members are recovering from COVID-19. From trauma. From cancer. From childbirth. 

Tens of thousands of people have actually died of COVID-19.

During the pandemic women have left the workplace in greater numbers than at any previous time, and much of that is because of their unpaid caregiving responsibilities. Expanding childcare programming doesn’t solve the problem of people needing to be able to stay home with their newborns, and expanding care for aging adults doesn’t solve the problem of people needing to be with their loved ones as they struggle with illness, death, and dying. 

If the last 18 months haven’t been enough to point out how critical it is to build a system that helps people to *not work* - without sacrificing their own health or economic security, then what will? It’s time to join every other nation in the world (with the exception of Papua New Guinea) to address this need, and unfortunately we’ve just let one of the best opportunities of a lifetime pass us by.