[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 306 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 306

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 20, 2023

 Ms. Klobuchar (for herself and Ms. Duckworth) 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 empower mothers 
           in the workforce by investing in the Mom Economy.

Whereas mothers are an essential part of the workforce and economy of the United 
        States;
Whereas 2,500,000 women left the workforce in the first year of the COVID-19 
        pandemic, as compared to 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, as compared to paternal employment, which fell by 9.6 percent 
        in the same time period;
Whereas at least \4/10\ of 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 and Pacific-Islander women experience higher poverty rates and 
        higher wage gaps compared to White, non-Hispanic men;
Whereas women occupy close to \2/3\ 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 the full employment of 
        women, and the gross domestic product of the United States would 
        increase by 10 to 15 basis points with such investments;
Whereas \1/2\ of the families in the United States with children under the age 
        of 18 years 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 such as 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 under the Family and Medical 
        Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.);
Whereas 3 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 during 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 boosts 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 Senate 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, 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 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 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 in 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 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 regard 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 to both 
        their families and the economy of the United States.
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