Childcare is infrastructure, and our country is crumbling

Lucky for Congress, Marshall Plan for Moms’ latest poll shows that the right thing to do is also the popular thing to do

If you don’t already know that motherhood is broken, you’re not paying attention. Certainly not to the news, which for the last year and a half has chronicled the steady bleed of 1.8 million American women from the workforce. Certainly not to the business world, which has decried a mass labor shortage despite record unemployment for women. And certainly not to the moms in your life, who are maxed out, burnt out, and — when it comes to support from their government, their employers, and their communities — shit out of luck.

One reason is clear: childcare in America is a mess. Recently, Marshall Plan for Moms polled moms across the political spectrum to find out how the pandemic has impacted mothers, and how lawmakers can help. Nearly half of those surveyed said childcare is too expensive to rationalize their return to work. Though the government has some existing measures of support, a lack of adequate funding makes those resources inaccessible to many, and inadequate for many more — meaning 6 out of every 7 eligible children don’t receive the childcare subsidies they need.

We call ourselves the greatest country in the world, but when it comes to our nation’s most fundamental function — caring for the next generation — we’re among the worst.

It’s time to establish infrastructure for mothers to thrive in the workplace, and for their children to succeed in the classroom: paid family leave, universal pre-K, higher wages for caregivers, and so much more. By passing Biden’s current infrastructure package, Congress has the chance to do just that.

Yet, some politicians are still stalling, fearful that funding a comprehensive childcare system is somehow a political risk. Those politicians aren’t just lacking a moral backbone — they’re missing a huge opportunity to coalesce bipartisan support.

According to that same Marshall Plan for Moms poll, over two thirds of all female voters believe the government doesn’t adequately support moms generally, while a 65 percent majority say the government hasn’t done enough to help moms through the pandemic. Many of those moms across the political spectrum experienced underemployment or income reduction during the pandemic — and now face substantial challenges in trying to re-enter the workforce.

Over two thirds of all female voters believe the government doesn’t adequately support moms generally, while a 65 percent majority say the government hasn’t done enough to help moms through the pandemic.

But if those moms were united in their challenges, they’re also unified in their preferred solutions. At a time when Democrats and Republicans can agree on very little, over three quarters of all female voters — including 83 percent of moms — support policies provided by a Marshall Plan for Moms. That’s more than four in five liberals and 73 percent of conservatives.

We also found that 73 percent of all female voters, including 77 percent of all moms, would support a candidate who shares their views on core parenting-related issues — even if that candidate is from a different political party.

With new data in front of us, and our broken system laid bare, politicians have zero excuse for inaction. So, here’s our message to them, on behalf of moms across the country: we have good news! Passing childcare reform isn’t just good for American families — it’s good for your political futures, too.

Right now, you could pass big policies with widespread bipartisan support — policies that give millions of children the education, resources, and care they deserve, and parents the support and flexibility they need. Those don’t fall on your desk every single day.

America, at its core, is a nation of future seekers. And as a country reliant upon women’s labor, paid and unpaid, it’s long past time politicians care as much about mothers’ futures as they do their own political ones. Congress must pass this bill so we can care for our kids and ourselves — or risk losing our workforce participation, and our votes, for good.