FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 31, 2023
Contact: Daniela Perez, dperez@domesticworkers.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announced a White House Proclamation declaring April as Care Worker Recognition Month, highlighting the Administration’s continued commitment to strengthening the care economy and marking a critical step forward for direct care workers, caregivers, early childhood educators, and child care workers to live and work with the respect and recognition they deserve.
The National Domestic Workers Alliance is excited to see a month dedicated to the workers who care for our loved ones and national acknowledgment of what care workers have known all along – that care is essential, and care can’t wait.
Ai-jen Poo, President, and Jenn Stowe, Executive Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA), released the following statement:
“We celebrate the Biden-Harris Administration’s decision to proclaim April as ‘Care Worker Recognition Month.’ For decades, we have known that care workers are the engine of our economy and society, enabling our families to thrive by ensuring our loved ones are cared for with respect and dignity. Now, it’s time for the rest of the country to see what we see. It’s time we recognize care work and thank care workers for the life-enabling work they do.
This proclamation represents a turning point in our country – public recognition of work often invisibilized and undervalued, made possible by the women of color who have organized for decades to achieve transformational change in the care industry. We are thrilled to have a dedicated month for the workers who make everything else possible, and we welcome the opportunity to thank them on a national stage. And this April, we must go beyond acknowledgment; we must recommit to real change.
America’s care workers provide the care needed for older adults and people with chronic illnesses or disabilities to live independently and with dignity; they provide enriching environments for our children to grow and learn; and they understand the critical human connection necessary to provide care to our loved ones. With a growing aging population, American families need more support than ever, driving a rapid growth in the number of care jobs. Yet, they too often earn poverty wages without benefits or adequate time off and struggle to make ends meet. The workers we count on to care for us struggle to care for their own families. We can’t recognize care workers without recognizing that reality. That is why, this April, we will also be recommitting to action to make care jobs the living wage jobs they deserve.
May this proclamation pave the way for generational change in the quality of jobs. May we achieve investments in home and community-based services to raise wages for the workforce, pass a National Domestic Worker Bill of Rights, and put these jobs on a path to real economic opportunity and mobility.
We join the nation in celebrating and thanking our care workers and look forward to amplifying the stories and power of care work all month and beyond.”
