FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 14, 2021
Contact: Erin Weber | 646-719-7021 | weber@iwpr.org
IWPR Statement—The Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) applauds the Biden Administration’s ambitious $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan that will provide needed economic support to struggling families and the workers who have been most impacted by the pandemic. The comprehensive plan includes direct cash payments to households, the extension of unemployment insurance, child care supports, housing and nutrition assistance, and an increase in the minimum wage, among many other important measures.
The American Rescue Package is in great alignment with many of the policy and recommendations outlined in IWPR’s Report, Build(ing) the Future: Bold Policies for a Gender Equitable Recovery. Specifically, the Institute supports the plan’s call to:
- Raise the federal minimum wage to $15.00
- Expand the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
- Provide Economic Impact Payments (EIP) to struggling families
- Expand Unemployment Insurance (UI)
- Expand Paid Sick and Family Medical Leave
- Provide Housing and Nutrition Assistance
“Not since the New Deal enacted by President Roosevelt following the Great Depression has such an ambitious economic stimulus been attempted to revive a sagging economy by an administration,” said C. Nicole Mason, Ph.D., President and CEO of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.
“The two-pronged strategy laid out by the Biden administration is comprehensive and demonstrates a clear understanding of the need to get the pandemic under control and people vaccinated while simultaneously providing direct support to families in need while we chart a path to full recovery.”
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