New scorecard outlines lack of support for paid and unpaid caregivers
As American families are getting ready for back to school, new research shows that the United States gets a failing grade — 43 out of 100 — in supporting caregivers, both paid and unpaid. The scorecard, complied by Oxfam with the National Women's Law Center, National Partnership for Women and Girls, and Notre Dame's Integration Lab, finds that federal policy largely fails to support the millions of people who provide care in the U.S.
Care work adds enormous value to our economy and society but remains largely invisible and under-valued. Worse yet, it often traps people in poverty. This reflects the fact that this work disproportionately falls to people facing historic inequities: women and girls, immigrants and refugees, and BIPOC.
“Across the country, parents are relieved to end the summer camp juggle and get their kids back to school, but many people engaged in paid and unpaid care—including the parents and guardians of children, those supporting disabled, ill, and elderly people, and care workers—continue to struggle under great physical and emotional pressure and experience deep financial hardship,” said Rebecca Rewald, Senior Gender Policy Advisor with Oxfam America. “Care work demands a lot, and provides enormous value to our economy and society, but returns scant rewards, and often traps people in poverty.”
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