Want to Invest in an Equitable Economy? Center Care Economy Workers

Demand for caregivers in the US is at an all time high. If you have opened the news in the past two years, you have seen the headlines of workers struggling to find care for children as childcare center shutter across the country, many permanently. The dark side of the care economy is that it is driven by a mostly BIPOC and immigrant women workforce that faces low pay, long hours, and extractive business practices. This drives an extremely high turnover rate among childcare and similar workers, driving down the availability of quality and affordable care. Our care system, especially childcare, isn’t working. What if we could reimagine how our childcare and other care systems worked? This discussion will focus on what worker-centered approaches are showing promise, opportunities for equitable funding and investment in this sector, and how we might change the lives of thousands of BIPOC women low-wage workers by rethinking childcare.