People around the world are feeling the pressures of caring for children and other loved ones without paid care services and the support of extended family and social networks. Due to decades of disinvestment and discriminatory policies, many families’ care and support needs were unmet before the pandemic. The loss of normal care structures has pushed many already-marginalized families to the brink.
This is a dynamic conversation with caregivers, experts, and activists who are leading the way to a more gender-just economy that supports all people in meeting their care responsibilities.
Moderator:
- Kimberly Pfeifer, Research Director, Oxfam America
Panelists:
- C. Nicole Mason, President and CEO, Institute for Women’s Policy Research
- Joi Owens, Senior Gulf Coast Policy Officer, Oxfam America
- Katherine Gallagher Robbins, Director of Child Care and Early Education, Center for Law and Social Policy
- Sherry Leiwant, Co-Founder and Co-President, A Better Balance
A more gender-just economy that supports all people in meeting their care responsibilities—while supporting themselves—is possible, but it will take concerted effort and bold policy action to build an economic system that offers opportunity and care for all people. Under these difficult conditions created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the need to recognize, honor, and support the value of unpaid and underpaid care and domestic work becomes increasingly urgent.
