On Wednesday afternoon, President Joe Biden traveled to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to unveil his $2 trillion plan to boost the economy and rebuild infrastructure across America.
The sweeping proposal, called the American Jobs Plan, is part of President Biden’s “Build Back Better” agenda and will tackle everything from the ongoing climate crisis to job creation to improving infrastructures like roads, bridges, and highways.
At least $400 billion will be set aside for the “caregiving economy,” with major investments in our child and elder care infrastructure — everything from expanding access to at-home or community-based care to improving wages and work conditions for care providers.
More investment in caregiving infrastructure is expected in the coming weeks, as the Biden administration readies to release a second part of the plan. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the nation’s caregiving crisis to the fore, as millions of women have had to leave the workforce to take on childcare and other caregiving responsibilities over the past year.
The Takeaway spoke to C. Nicole Mason, the president and chief executive officer of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, about what the proposal will mean for the caregiving economy. Plus, Jeff Stein, White House economics reporter for the Washington Post, explains what else the American Jobs Plan will cover.
