[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 605 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 605

  Recognizing that the United States needs to support and strengthen 
       mothers in the workforce by investing in the Mom Economy.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 20, 2023

Ms. Meng submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Recognizing that the United States needs to support and strengthen 
       mothers in the workforce by investing in the Mom Economy.

Whereas mothers are an essential part of the American workforce and the United 
        States economy;
Whereas 2,500,000 women left the workforce in the first year of the COVID-19 
        pandemic, compared with 1,800,000 men, largely as a result of the 
        burdens of childcare, work, and remote learning;
Whereas maternal employment fell by 15.7 percent as a result of the COVID-19 
        pandemic, compared to paternal employment which fell by 9.6 percent in 
        the same time period;
Whereas at least 4 out of every 10 women report having experienced gender 
        discrimination at work;
Whereas, on average, women are paid 77 cents for every dollar paid to men;
Whereas Black women, Latinas, Native women, and many communities of Asian-
        American Pacific-Islander women experience higher poverty rates and 
        higher wage gaps compared to White, non-Hispanic men;
Whereas women occupy close to two-thirds of jobs that pay the Federal minimum 
        wage or just a few dollars above it;
Whereas even 1 percent of mothers leaving the workforce would result in an 
        estimated $8,700,000,000 economic fallout for families;
Whereas strong investments in childcare are essential for women's full 
        employment, and United States gross domestic product would increase by 
        10 to 15 basis points with such investments;
Whereas half of families in the United States with children under the age of 18 
        have a mother who contributes at least 40 percent of household earnings;
Whereas mothers of color play a vital role in the financial stability of their 
        families with 79 percent of Black mothers, 64 percent of Native American 
        mothers, 49 percent of Latina mothers, and 43 percent of Asian-American 
        and Pacific-Islander mothers serving as breadwinners;
Whereas, in addition to the economic security that mothers provide for their 
        families, mothers are more than 3 times as likely as fathers to be 
        responsible for most of the housework and caregiving in their 
        households;
Whereas, in addition to caregiving for children, mothers disproportionately 
        shoulder unpaid caregiving responsibilities for older relatives and 
        other family members with disabilities;
Whereas women are twice as likely as men to say that taking time off had a 
        negative impact on their professional development;
Whereas industries dominated by women disproportionately fail to provide family-
        friendly workplace benefits like paid family and medical leave, health 
        insurance, and retirement plans;
Whereas 44 percent of workers are not eligible for unpaid, job-protected leave 
        for specified family and medical reasons as provided for by the Family 
        and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.);
Whereas 3 out of 10 women without access to paid leave exit the workforce after 
        giving birth;
Whereas paid leave policies can reduce the number of women leaving their jobs by 
        20 percent in the first year after welcoming a child and up to 50 
        percent after 5 years;
Whereas mothers sometimes find childcare costs are almost as much as their 
        paychecks, creating a financial incentive for mothers to leave the 
        workforce in exchange for childcare duties;
Whereas 40 percent of parents have gone into debt due to the high costs of 
        childcare;
Whereas the childcare crisis costs the United States $122,000,000,000 each year, 
        including $78,000,000,000 in lost earnings and job search expenses, 
        $23,000,000,000 in lost workforce productivity, and $21,000,000,000 in 
        lost tax revenue;
Whereas a significant investment in childcare is simultaneously job creating and 
        job enabling, creating good jobs and supporting parental employment;
Whereas, by encouraging women to remain in the workforce full time, access to 
        paid leave and childcare significantly boost mothers' lifetime earning 
        potential;
Whereas the 2021 temporary expansion of the child tax credit lifted 3,700,000 
        children out of poverty;
Whereas families used the child tax credit to cover routine expenses, improve 
        nutrition, decrease reliance on credit cards and other high-risk 
        financial services, and make long-term educational investments; and
Whereas families of color saw the largest quality of life improvements due to 
        the expansion of the child tax credit in 2021: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (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 
        American economy 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, in programs including--
                    (A) robust paid family and medical leave plans for 
                all workers, including--
                            (i) paid parental leave following the birth 
                        of a child or the placement of a child for 
                        adoption or foster care, provided in equal 
                        amounts for all parents regardless of gender; 
                        and
                            (ii) paid leave policies that can be used 
                        for family caregiving and workers' own medical 
                        leave;
                    (B) paid menstrual leave and remote work 
                accommodations for workers experiencing debilitating 
                menstrual or menopause symptoms;
                    (C) investment in the childcare industry with the 
                goal of providing universal childcare and early 
                learning, including--
                            (i) robust funding for the Head Start and 
                        Early Head Start programs;
                            (ii) Federal financial support for 
                        childcare programs to guarantee all families 
                        have access to affordable and high quality 
                        child care; and
                            (iii) commitments to pay childcare workers 
                        a dignified, living wage;
                    (D) access to nutritious food as a health and human 
                right, including through--
                            (i) boosting SNAP maximum and minimum 
                        benefits and removing barriers to access, 
                        including time restrictions and additional work 
                        requirements; and
                            (ii) increasing funds for school meals and 
                        other nutrition programs to combat child hunger 
                        and making school meals more accessible;
                    (E) the implementation and expansion of child 
                poverty reduction tools that improve income security, 
                infant and maternal health, and educational and 
                economic outcomes into the second generation, 
                including--
                            (i) a permanent expansion of the child tax 
                        credit; and
                            (ii) improvements on the earned income tax 
                        credit, which lifts millions of people above 
                        the poverty line each year and boosts labor 
                        force participation among single mothers;
                    (F) addressing the Nation's maternal mortality 
                crisis through critical investments in maternal health 
                care, including ensuring access to the full range of 
                reproductive health care and family planning;
                    (G) raising the Federal minimum wage higher for all 
                workers, including tipped workers, and adjusting it on 
                a yearly basis to keep pace with inflation; and
                    (H) investments in legislation that ensures 
                protections for LGBTQ+ mothers in the workplace such as 
                the Equality Act and 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 with regards to 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.
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