[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 152 (Thursday, September 24, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Page S5007]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SENATE RESOLUTION 901--RECOGNIZING THAT THE UNITED STATES NEEDS TO
SUPPORT AND STRENGTHEN MOTHERS IN THE WORKFORCE BY INVESTING IN THE MOM
ECONOMY
Ms. DUCKWORTH (for herself and Mr. Wyden) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, Education,
Labor, and Pensions:
S. Res. 901
Whereas mothers are an essential part of the workforce and
economy of the United States;
Whereas the labor force participation of mothers and
fathers differs by nearly 20 percentage points, with
participation rates of 73.9 percent for mothers and 93.7
percent for fathers;
Whereas at least 4 out of every 10 women report having
experienced gender discrimination at work;
Whereas single female headed households with children are
more than twice as likely to live in poverty (at 100 percent
of the Federal poverty threshold) than single male headed
households with children;
Whereas the median earnings for women who work full-time is
84 cents and for women who work part-time is 78 cents
compared to 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 most recent studies indicate that 45 percent of
mothers who are either single working mothers or married
contribute to at least half of their family's income;
Whereas mothers of color play a vital role in the financial
stability of their families with most recent studies showing
that 69 percent of Black mothers, 56 percent of Native
American mothers, 45 percent of Latina mothers, and 35
percent of Asian American and Pacific Islander mothers serve
as breadwinners;
Whereas, in addition to the economic security that mothers
provide for their families, mothers are more than 2 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 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 the average parent spends 20 percent of their
annual income on childcare, causing 16 percent of parents to
go into debt and 31 percent of parents to dip into savings
due to the high costs of childcare;
Whereas the childcare crisis costs the United States
$172,000,000,000 each year, including $134,000,000,000 in
lost earnings and job search expenses and $38,000,000,000 in
lost workforce productivity, and $37,000,000,000 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 the lifetime earning potential of mothers;
Whereas, in 2021, the temporary expansion of the child tax
credit lifted 2,900,000 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
economy of the United States 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--
(A) in programs--
(i) including--
(I) robust paid family and medical leave plans for all
workers, including--
(aa) paid parental leave following the birth of a child or
the placement of a child in adoption or foster care, provided
in equal amounts for all parents regardless of gender; and
(bb) paid leave policies that can be used for family
caregiving and medical leave for workers; and
(II) paid menstrual leave and remote work accommodations
for workers experiencing debilitating menstrual or menopause
symptoms;
(ii) that--
(I) invest in the childcare industry with the goal of
providing universal childcare and early learning, including
programs that--
(aa) robustly increase funding for the Head Start and Early
Head Start programs;
(bb) increase Federal financial support for childcare
programs to guarantee that all families have access to
affordable and high quality child care; and
(cc) commit to pay childcare workers a dignified, living
wage;
(II) increase access to nutritious food and make access to
such food a health and human right, including through--
(aa) boosting maximum and minimum benefits under the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (commonly referred
to as ``SNAP'') and removing barriers of access to SNAP,
including time restrictions and additional work requirements;
and
(bb) increasing funds for school meals and other nutrition
programs to combat child hunger and make school meals more
accessible;
(III) implement and expand child poverty reduction tools
that improve income security, infant and maternal health, and
educational and economic outcomes into the second generation,
including through implementation of--
(aa) a permanent expansion of the child tax credit; and
(bb) improvements regarding the earned income tax credit,
which lifts millions of people above the poverty line each
year and boosts labor force participation among single
mothers;
(IV) address the maternal mortality crisis of the United
States through critical investments in maternal health care,
including programs that ensure access to the full range of
reproductive health care and family planning; and
(V) raise the Federal minimum wage for all workers,
including tipped workers, and adjust the Federal minimum wage
on a yearly basis to keep pace with inflation; and
(B) in legislation that--
(i) ensures protections for LGBTQ+ mothers in the
workplace, such as the Equality Act; and
(ii) 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 by focusing on 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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