 Hello and welcome to this joint event of the Better Life Lab at New America and a better balance exploring this unprecedented crisis of care. I'm Bridget Schulte, the director of the Better Life Lab. Today, this is truly an unprecedented moment, an inflection point, both of crises, crisis and opportunity for action. The pandemic has shown what families, women and caregivers have known for decades that the United States does not make it easy, or in some cases even possible for people to combine work and care responsibilities without penalty or risk of economic precarity. And that those who do this vital work, this vital care work, child care workers, early education teachers and home care workers, most of whom are women and women of color, they have for too long but overlooked undervalued and paid poverty wages. So today we'll be hearing from people on the front lines who struggle every day with work and care in a way that so many policymakers don't. And, and we'll talk about their fight for work family justice. We'll also hear from two speakers and a panel of experts exploring the way out of this crisis, and how to ensure a just and equitable recovery. Our first speaker is positioned directly at this historic inflection point. Heather Boucher is a member of the Council of Economic Advisors in the Biden administration, which has just unveiled an ambitious $2 trillion infrastructure plan that includes some care infrastructure and promises more investment in such human infrastructure to come. So, Heather, it's also the co founder of the Washington Center for equitable growth, and is one of the nation's most influential voices on economic policy, and a leading economist who focuses on the intersection between economic inequality, growth and public policy. She's the author of a number of books, and we're so grateful to have you here so let me at this, let me turn it over to you Heather. Thank you so much Bridget, and it's just a real honor to be able to be with you all here today virtually I wish we could all be in person so that we could connect and talk but there you go. I'm just I'm very very happy and honored to be here. And, you know, I found the title of today's event around the crisis of care to be both inspired but also, you know, really the challenges that we're trying to address. We all know how tough 2020 wise. We've all seen the ways that 2020 unmasked the fragilities across our economy across our society. And in particular the ways that we have with the American people can now see in stark relief that if you don't have access to care, people simply can't get to work. So the important foundation of care for our economy has been made really palpable over the past year. For many of us it was palpable all along, but I think it's really resonated in new ways and it's made it, I think, easier for us to make the case for how important and foundational these this basket of issues are. You know, it's been my honor over the past year to be able to work with candidate Joe Biden and now to be a part of this administration and I want to spend a couple of moments talking to you about what we have on the table and where we are. So of course the American rescue plan the $1.9 trillion package that passed into law a few weeks ago, provided, you know, it honored the president's campaign commitment to start wrapping our hands around this coronavirus crisis, making sure that we were dealing with the first order issue of getting the vaccine out, making sure that people have protective care and all of those things, while at the same time making sure that people could, you know, families and businesses and state and local governments all across our economy had what they needed to weather the storm. And importantly, that included expanding and extending the emergency paid leave. It included a historic investment to make sure that childcare centers could get back up on their feet. And, you know, these were seen as fundamental and important pieces of the American rescue plan and those dollars are starting to now go out to people and and provide that help and support that that families need. And as I'm sure many of you heard yesterday, the president announced the American jobs package, another $2 trillion package focused on the restoring America's infrastructure. And I want to emphasize that the president laid out how care is an important piece of our nation's infrastructure. So like in the American rescue plan, these issues are front and center. There is additional money to expand the building of childcare centers and to make sure that those centers are resilient and that they not only address the needs of care but that we're making them in a way that they can withstand the ravages of climate change in the decades to come that we're refurbishing schools and again making sure that we're attending to issues around ventilation and making sure that these are stable for years to come. And a historic really important investment of $400 billion in the home care sector with a commitment to make sure that these are good jobs for those workers with the right to join the union and that this agenda addresses the longstanding need that so many families have for home health aid. So I wanted to start by emphasizing how far we've come and what we've done in the two packages that have already been announced. And of course as the president spoke yesterday there's a third package yet to come the American family plan. We'll have to leave those details to the future. But, but as he said this is really about addressing many of the care needs of our society and our country. As we've put together all these plans. I've been thinking a lot about the kinds of historic investments we've made before in the care sector. I've been struck as I've gone into the Oval Office to meet with the president, you know when he sits below the huge portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, very large portrait behind his head. As I've looked at I've often thought about how one of the things that happened in the Roosevelt era was the Land Hem Act that expanded the availability of childcare across the country. And there's a recent study by an economist that just was out a couple of years ago that looked at the long term effects of those investments. And was able to document that those children that had access to childcare through that act through that important investment that helps so many workers at that time. But that had long, long term consequences for those folks as they grew up and became adults, positive consequences for our economy. And I think thinking about how this historic moment with the American with the incredible support we've given to families and communities all across the country to the package already passed to the package that the president announced and the opportunity to make historic investments and childcare and all the other things and then the plan yet to come. This is really our moment to for the care economy to be seen for what it is. It's a foundational piece of our economy. It is the way that the president has teed up this issue. It's not a side show. It's not an add on. It has been core to the three core packages, the rescue plan, the jobs plan, the family plan. And I hope that you all see in these announcements in these packages, the fruits of so much of the work that I can't see you all but you know the 141 participants that I can see, you know, the bottom of my screen here. I know that so many of you have spent so much of your lives working to make this moment happen. So that we had a president who was opening the door for these historic important investments in our society and our economy and making sure that the workers that do this care work are fairly paid that the women the women of color that do that work are able to do it at that high quality because those are good jobs and they're providing the quality care and that people have the time away from what they need when they need to provide care through paid leave and the like. And I hope that you see that this is that this moment is because of the your hard work in your success, but we are still at the precipice of everything yet to come. So I think the major investments that that the president has outlined and his schedule outline in the weeks to come are really an opportunity for us to come together and talk about what's important to the American people. And how important care infrastructure is to our economy to our society to the communities that we are all from and to the workers that do this really important work and the workers who rely on the care infrastructure for to be able to do their jobs. So I look forward to working with you all in the days and weeks and months to come, but this is our moment and I hope you feel very proud of what you how much work you've done to get us here and are excited about the opportunities in front of us. So with that, I will hand it back over to Bridget. Thank you so much Heather, and we're so grateful to have you here. I want to remind people please feel free to put your comments or questions in the chat. We'll get to them in each of the panel discussions as we can. So at this point let's turn to the first panel discussion this is really putting frontline workers front and center, looking at workers and worker leadership and the fight for work family justice. Yeah, I want to talk with you hear the stories of the workers themselves, what they're struggling with, what they're fighting for, you know, in this kind of unprecedented moment, hear their stories and then ask them, you know, in our conversation sort of will flow to what is it that you need what do you need to see, and then we'll move into how we go from stories to action. So, so dream a let's start with you. You're, you're working fast food you are, you know, you are one of the heroes one of the essential workers that we talk about during the pandemic. What has this experience been like for you how have you struggled to combine work and care during the pandemic. First we had no care of the schools are shut down day care is shut down. I tried to talk my boss and the lit my son stay with me at work in the part of the building that was closed down, and they wouldn't let us do that. And I didn't even know about the family care act or anything. And then when I finally found out about it. They let me take it until he got back to school for the, to the summer break let out. When the school would back in, I got to take two more weeks. And then after that I had to ask a friend if she would, you know, let him stay with her because other than that we had nowhere for him to go. And we couldn't do without the income we had to have the month. We were using credit cards to try to make earrings meet and it just, it just wasn't working. How old is your, how old is your son? He's 12 now. He's 12. So, you know, in the state of Georgia, you know, when are you able to let a let a child by themselves, because that's one of the problems that so many people faced is that there are state laws that say you cannot leave a child by themselves until a certain They cannot stay home. They cannot stay home alone for longer than one hour until they are 14. They cannot do in such a bind. Should level set here and just say that here we are in, in a country that is really alone in the world that does not guarantee workers paid time off really for any reason we don't have paid vacation days we don't have paid family medical leave we don't have paid vacation days. And dream as you said the emergency paid family leave that Congress and past last April that expired in December it sounds like that helped you a little bit but it, you know with that with so much childcare shut down without investment in childcare. It sounds like that was really a huge problem for you. It was only a total of 12 weeks that I can have off. I'm not going to be able to figure out a way to get him to be somewhere where he I know he would be safe and taken care of. We were. It was, it was hard. I'm sorry to hear and forgive me for neglecting to introduce the panel so let me do that now and then April it will will move to you but I want to the panel here we've got three with James. She's a better balanced community advocate and she's a fast food worker in Georgia. We have Tasha morale a better balanced community advocate and teamster organizer and a former warehouse worker in Tennessee. And we have April Kimbrough a nursing student and paid lead advocate in Colorado, who is now in Georgia. So April, let me turn it over to you and tell us where you are and why you're why you're in Georgia today. Good morning everyone. So, right now as we speak I stepped away I'm in the restroom at North side hospital my son is about to undergo surgery to have his right to keep me removed. Last year June 16, 2020 my son was diagnosed with a very rare form of kidney cancer that has a 5% survival rate. I was at work in Colorado and my son lived in Georgia. As soon as I found out I notified my supervisor, and I got on the first plane available. While in Georgia, I worked remotely for my company never missed a shift was never late. I had to be here to organize my son's chemotherapy and care. I then manager demanded that I return to Colorado to work one site. Like the next day. While being diagnosed with cancer my son was also diagnosed with pneumonia and COVID-19. My doctor not allow me to quarantine before returning back to work. I had to make a very, very hard decision. I wanted to provide care for my son support and all of the above, but I also needed the income to be able to do that. I made my way back to Colorado. And within a couple of weeks, I ultimately lost my job. I then lost my apartment, losing my apartment. I was forced into my car for one month. And I'm saying this publicly now and family, they don't even know. So I was between trips back and forth to try to keep my job to try to support my son. So as of right now, I'm in Georgia, but I still come back to Colorado for a nursing school. I have four more months and I will graduate at that point. I think that anyone should ever have to make a decision to either provide for the household provide for their loved one, especially in a terminal situation. So, so April, how are you supporting yourself now. I am working as a waitress. So that's very flexible. They do work with the things that I have to deal with with my son. However, I lost all of my benefits and insurances and everything like that, which is okay, I will reveal, but you know, it has been a very, very stressful time period. So April, we're going to come back to you and talk a little bit about kind of where we need to go here but I first found your story when I was looking at the state of Colorado. You said the United States does not have a paid family medical leave program. It's voluntarily offered through employers, about 80% of the workforce does not have paid family leave through their employers. Most of those who do tend to be in higher wage positions. You know, so you were advocating for paid family leave in Colorado. That was a handful of states that have sort of taken it into their own hands to have a statewide policy. And can you tell us about the ad that you shot for the campaign that just really took my, it really was very powerful. Well, I knew what was going on at my job wasn't normal. I was working for a hospice provider where we provide support in care to families going through my situation. But I wasn't offered that were extended that through my own employer. So it was a very hurtful thing so as I began to share my story and talk to this person and talk to this person, someone in a position that could help her my story. So we did a commercial real true thoughts real true feelings about what was going on with me and my life and it helped change and pass that law of the paid family leave act, which will now give people in the state of Colorado 12 weeks time off to spend with the family member of whether it's end of life, like my situation, or if it's a bird or, you know, whatever the severe circumstance may be. You know, when I saw your ad you said, you were talking about your son to Cory who's 23 and you said I was there. When he took his first breath. I want to be there when he takes his last, and that just was so very powerful. And so it's important to note that Colorado did pass this it was a ballot initiative where the very first paid family leave statewide ballot initiative. After the state legislature fail to act for years and years the voters overwhelmingly approved it even in counties that also voted for former President Trump so it was there was a lot of support for it. Thank you, April. Grateful that you're joining us from the hospital. You know, let's move to Tasha let's talk about your story now. Your story is one that you know many people don't even think about it's really about how difficult it is for pregnant workers to stay on the job to get the accommodations that they need to enable to them to keep working. Can you tell us your story. Hello, ma'am hello again my name is Tasha Morel and I'm a wife for 17 years and a mother of two boys. I, I work for a company called. It was a new breed then it turned into expo logistics. I am a former worker there and now I am a teamsters organizer. My job at this warehouse was always physical and emotional, draining the women of this warehouse had to endure sexual harassment. I mean, retaliation heavy lifting of Verizon phones and accessories. I mean, just horrible working conditions. I mean, I have witnessed my coworkers dying on the warehouse floor, and we had to continue to work around her deceased body. I have witnessed numerous of women miscarrying their children, me myself included. I suffered a loss of my child in 2014, in which my child will have been eight year roughly eight years old now. Wow. And can tell us about that what happened. Well, um, I found out I was pregnant and I mean me and my husband we were very excited man my family I am, you know, continue to work because we needed the extra income. I continue to work I did everything I needed to do I reported to my supervisor that I was pregnant and I could not live 50 to 75 pound book boxes. My supervisor informed me that I should have an abortion. I should have a child. Yes ma'am so I just really ignored her continue to work. And just one day I wasn't feeling where I was slumped over my desk. And she asked what was wrong and I told her you know I'm pregnant and I don't feel well. You can either clock out you know get a point. You know if you if early or if you be late you know you're on a point system. And so I just you know I want feeling well so I went on home and let early that morning I tried to get up. I mean, blood was everywhere my kids ready for school. Real bad I mean, and it's still traumatizing because they had to see me go through the blood, the sweat, the tears, the hurt, and you know and to get to the hospital to be told that it's nothing that can do. So I mainly had to let my miscarriage pass through while I was at home. And what did you what you know what did you need what would have made that what would have made that really tragic situation different for you and first of all I'm just so sorry to hear that happened. Thank you, not only me and when I said, you know, so women has children in their warehouse. All we need was a little time, just a little time just a little accommodation. I mean it was. You, they could have accommodated us because it was different areas in their warehouse that they could have they just did, they just did. And they just refused to care. You know, and I feel like it was just a little time. A little time you could have, you know, gone for a light duty instead of lifting heavy boxes that you could have done different kind of work. You could have taken breaks when you needed it but you didn't get any of that. No, I didn't. Well not, you know, normal breaks I mean just just think about the working condition it wasn't a heated building it wasn't an air condition building. You know, we had to work 14 to 15 hours a day, six, seven days a week. And I mean, and they didn't want to accommodate you is either work or go home or lose your job. Wow. So Tasha we're going to come back to you I'm going to do a round robin of what everybody wants to see kind of back how do we move into action but at this point let's go to you Virginia. So tell us, tell us your story that you are like, you know, you, like so many people during coven you, you have been, you know, working kind of a frontline if you will essential worker. Tell us your story and what happened to you and what you need, you needed. And Virginia, you'll have to take yourself off of mute. There you go. Hi. I was starting my story. I was working. I worked for Walmart for 10 years before I was terminated. I have severe asthma, and I'm a diabetic. At that time I didn't know that I had congestive heart failure. Walmart works on a point system. So today it is five days you cannot miss five days and six months before you're terminated. My situation. They knew about my asthma and my diabetes that told my managers that I needed to check my sugar periodically and do my nebulizer they allowed me to use their office. So they knew exactly what was going on with me. I had to leave one day and go home because I just was feeling really, really bad. My sugar was really high. I got a red light. I fell asleep at the red light. Just thank God I made it home alive to my child. Who was 10 at the time 910 years old at the time. So I ended up going to see my doctor called her got appointment with to see my doctor. She took me off work for five days they needed to bring my sugar down and get my asthma back into control. I called out every day for the five days on a fifth day when I called the manager told me that I was no longer viable to the company because I had to take so many days off. So I ended up at that time it was nine points accumulating nine points and they terminated me. Due to the termination. Like I said my son was either 809 at the time. He was a young manning but he know about kids they grow real rapidly I didn't have money to buy clothes for him. I couldn't pay my rent I actually had to go and cry to my mother to help me pay my rent. Thank God I have the mother that I have she did help me pay my rent. It was horrible it was the most hurtful thing in the world to have a company that you work for for 10 years. The lack of job performance is because you have an illness that you can't control. I take a leave. You had to have a thousand hours and be able to take intermittent leave. If you don't have that thousand hours and you cannot take leave so you make the decision. You have to work to take care of my family or lose my job and no one should have to go through that no one. So, we've got just a few minutes left so let's let's work backwards this time and each of you I want you to say like a couple things like, you know for the policymakers, you know, for people in power what do they need to do. What would what would make your life and people in situations like yours, what would make a difference Virginia let's start with you. You talk about, you know, you needed time to take care of yourself. You know, you didn't have any, did you have paid sick days you know we many workers do not do not paid family leave. What did you, what would you, what would you have needed then what would you say to policymakers that you need now. I will say is the one, it's meant to leave for critical illness should not go by point out the doctor verify that you have this illness you should be able to get it's meant to leave for however long, which most illnesses life long. That's needed. That is needed. The point system. That is pro. Especially for people that you know works very hard. Walmart does not take doctors excuses. I think all jobs should take doctors excuses don't want is going to take time out of their busy day to go get a doctor's excuse if they wanted to do something else because they can't do what they want to do sit back the emergency. Right. I just think they need to be more considerate of their workers they're not understanding that a doctor's excuse sometime it would help a family go a long way. So not only policy but thinking about culture that we need to actually trust workers instead of thinking they thinking that workers are just going to, you know, off off at the at the first sign that's really not treating workers with respect. Right. What about you, what would you have needed then what would you say to policymakers you need now, or people in that situation need. Um, well, I'm just going on my journey. This is the main reason why I joined the teams to union I organize and advocate for work for the working class making people in their family lives better. In the light of this coldly pregnant women need reasonable accommodations now. It could be a matter of life and death. So you know women are forced to make impossible choices. We need care and care and caring for their family. We need policies and safe nets that support women. I mean we just need open minded people and open minded companies that's willing to take this step and make a change recently in 2020 Tennessee past the law for the work for the pregnant women accommodate and pregnant women. And it's just, that's why I fight I will continue to fight, you know, so that one women, no longer has to go through the things that I had to go through of losing my child. So I fight, I think, I mean, I'll continue to fight advocate for pregnant women. You, that's, you were talking about the pregnant workers fairness act which Tennessee is one of a handful of states, and there is an effort at the federal level to try to pass that similar law. Thank you so much, April let's go to you. Really. What, what is it that you would need and people in your situation what would you say to policymakers. I think definitely there should be some type of paid time off to handle situations like this you can't be a good employee if you're at work consuming these thoughts are not there. You should be given the time off, even if it's an intermittent thing to handle those personal obligations and return to work without the risk of losing their job. I walk on those shows every single day. I don't think anyone should have to choose between caring for a family member and their job. Thank you April and three minutes finish with you. What, what, what do you need. What would you tell policymakers that you know what kind of action do they need to take that it shouldn't be that we have to choose between our families and our jobs. Our children come first that's where our future is. That's everything about us. And we shouldn't have to make a choice between not having a job or kids. Right. Well, I want to thank all of the panelists today. Dreamer April, Tasha Virginia thank you so much for being with us and sharing your stories. I hope you'll be able to stay on as we have more conversation and questions. And now I'm delighted to to introduce our next honored speaker. We're so delighted to have Jocelyn Fry with us. She's a senior fellow at American progress where her work focuses on a wide range of women's issues, including work family balance pay equity and women's leadership. Prior to joining American progress she was, she served in the Obama administration. She's also been the general counsel of the national partnership for women and families. She's just an excellent expert in women's economic security women's rights were so delighted to have you here Jocelyn, I'll turn it over to you now. Thank you so much Bridget, and thank you for the invitation to be here. It's great to be with all of you. I particularly want to thank my friends at a better balance and New America for including me in this important discussion and, you know, in many ways, it is, it is very hard to follow that panel. You know, the marching orders that we need were really laid out in clear and, I think, extraordinarily compelling fashion by each of the panelists and, you know, I want to share a couple of thoughts as we transition into the the policy of the nation, but you know I think where I would start is that the theme of this event and focusing on the crisis of care is so timely at a moment when we are talking about infrastructure about economic recovery and really sort of resetting the nation's issues and if nothing else we should have seen from the pandemic as Heather alluded to at the outset that part of the one of the most glaring features of the pandemic has been the the policy failures that have been on full display and really decades of failing to provide the infrastructure and support necessary for women for families to address both not simply their work needs but their caregiving needs and the pandemic should have shown an incredibly glaring troubling spotlight on those policy failures and it's really shame on us if we don't actually do what is necessary to to fix those flaws and failures and be responsive to the needs of workers like the women who were on the first panel and workers across the country. And so I think you know this moment is really about doing a reset. It is about rethinking how we have thought traditionally about some of the issues around infrastructure and some of the core underpinning of sort of how we operate as a society. The pandemic sort of showed us that there are a group of folks called essential workers who we've not been supportive of. It has shown us that we don't have the policies that enable folks to care for them, their families and so we're now in a moment of reset, where we need to think through what is it that we need. And I think it is, you know it's not just a nice thing to do to start with stories. I think it's really critical and essential to start with stories, because I think that they in many ways, the women on the first panel really give us our charge. They give us our marching orders and they help us to hone in on the questions and the issues that we have to address and answer. You know, it's the reality of women's lives, their day to day lives that gives us the authentic narratives that really describe the real world experiences of families, and it's those narratives and those experiences that really have to shape and drive our policy development. And often, what happens is that we hear stories we say isn't that a shame and then we move off and we start working on policies as if we've never heard anything. And I think it is incumbent upon us it's essential for us to not simply listen and hear those stories but to use those stories as not simply the motivation, but the framework for policy change. And the other thing that I think is important to lift up is that particularly when you focus on issues around care. We have operated as a country, where we are just all too willing to let women to pick up the slack without remuneration or not much remuneration or simply, you know, any sort of policy support that has a long history. It is rooted in our history around gender around race around ethnicity. It is rooted in our history and how we value women and the work that women do. And it was not lost on me that many of the women who were on the first panel were women of color, who were in jobs where they were not respected and given the respect that they deserve. And we're treated in some instances almost as the bed we're not human beings deserving of the same respect and decency that we would expect for anybody. And that is in inextricably linked to the long standing issues around race and gender bias and ethnic bias that is a piece of this puzzle when we talk about translating stories into policy. And so I think we have to be cognizant of all of those things as we try to ensure that we're actually being true to the women who who shared their stories and sometimes uncomfortable stories. We have to be cognizant of what's really driving the policy discussion. So, you know, there's lots of data that I could, you know, draw out about what's happened during the pandemic that further illustrates those stories. What I will just say generally speaking is that what we know from the pandemic in particular is that women have been disproportionately hard hit. They've experienced enormous job loss. The bulk of the caregiving has rested on women's shoulders, and that on the other piece of it and the other side, in addition to the, the job loss, there is there are the women who have remained working who are essential workers, one in three women are estimated to have been essential workers, but yet they didn't have and continue to not have the core policy supports that they need around taking time off. And the other piece of the equation that many of us know is that even when they passed a bill that purported to provide people paid leave, there's significant number of folks including the central workers who were carved out of those protections. We have a long, long unfortunate history relying on women to do work that we're not really willing to support them in and provide the policy supports that are necessary for them to function in their families in a way that makes sense. I want to draw out a couple of themes that I think have to undergird sort of the policy discussion going forward. In addition to building on the very good policy ideas that were named by all of the panelists in the first discussion. There are a couple of things that are clear to me. One is that in the future policy discussion you have to center women in the conversation. You have to look at the folks who are driving our economy who have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic and make sure that we're actually working critically at their experiences if we're going to come up with policies that make sense. I think second we have to understand in and be clear that the policies going forward have to not simply appreciate but respond to the fact that care is integral to how we operate as a worker in our economy, how our workplaces operate. It is not a peripheral issue. It is not a nice thing to do, but it's actually essential to workers being able to function in workplaces, care for their families and be as protective as possible. The third thing that I think is important is that we have to prioritize principles of equity as we're thinking about how workplaces function. I alluded to the fact that we're talking about many often many of women, disproportionately women, disproportionately women of color, we cannot ignore the continued prevalence of race, ethnic bias, gender bias and how those pieces connect together and how workplaces and policymakers respond to these issues. We simply are used to letting women, women of color just do stuff without really giving them the support that they need. And so we're really going to have a policy discussion that's responsive to the needs of women on the ground. We have to center equity in the conversation. The last thing I want to say is that we also have to focus on just how you value women's work better. Unfortunately, our low wage workers, many of the jobs that we're talking about our minimum wage jobs are just above. And so folks are making ends meet. And so when they lose a job, they are in a precarious financial situation for themselves and their families. That's really just unacceptable. We should be able to do better. We should be able to invest in jobs in a different way, raising the minimum wage raising tipman getting rid of the tip minimum wage. That's one of the measures that folks know. And so that also has to be a priority. And so I just wanted to lay out at least some of those things that I think come out of the stories that we've heard. But mostly I just want to reinforce that, you know, our policy discussion has to be fueled by driven by undergirded by the concrete experiences real world experiences of women's lives. And with that, I'll hand it over and hand it back to Bridget or Sherry for the rest of the discussion. And thanks again for including me. Thank you so much, Jocelyn. Thank you. Those are those are great remarks. My name is Sherry Lee want and I am co president and co founder of a better balance and I'll be moderating the next panel. I want to first of all thank all the women on panel one for sharing those stories. They really are amazing stories and Jocelyn is 100% right. That is those those are the real lived experiences that need to be shaping the policies that we're talking about. As both Heather and Jocelyn said, the pandemic has really laid bare the desperate need this nation has to create an infrastructure that enables workers to care for their families in ordinary times as well as in the extraordinary times we're going through right now. And this panel will explore what we need to do to create work with workplace policies that do support today's workforce. So that the need to care for loved ones doesn't create an insurmountable barrier to economic security as as you heard from the women in the first panel. And that in a way that brings together various stakeholders and is inclusive and recognizes that gender and racial equity have to be central are some of the themes that that we wanted to talk about. My organization better balance has done a lot of work in the states on issues of paid family and medical leave paid sick time pregnancy accommodations child care and fair scheduling. The state laws we've we've drafted have been passed in states around the country and they really are helping people paid sick days laws are now in 16 states and 23 localities paid family and medical leave laws. We've passed in nine states including the California the Colorado ballot initiative that April help pass and that we drafted and pregnancy accommodation laws in 30 states. We know that when we really need our federal laws that cover all American workers. The American rescue plan which was the covert stimulus package contained more money for childcare and President Biden has proposed money to expand home health care just did that yesterday. And that's all all to the good all the things that Heather was talking about. The pending in Congress now are several bills that would provide critical support for workers. The family act providing paid family medical leave the healthy families act providing paid sick time for workers and the pregnant workers fairness act providing reasonable accommodations to all pregnant workers. But to date none of those laws have been passed at the federal level. And so we have our work cut out for for us. I did want to mention that for the first time in the pandemic we did have a limited national law that gave paid sick leave and childcare leave to many workers affected by coven 19 and I was happy to hear at least at least gave a little help to to to some some of the two one of the panelists at least. And although the rights created by that law sunset at the end of 2020 and we're not renewed. It did create a window to see what a national law could look like. The failure to renew those rights was a tremendous disappointment as the pandemic continues, but it was also a reminder that if we're going to enact federal rights that support those who are sick or pregnant care for loved ones. That fight was going to be a very tough one. We need for policymakers and legislators to understand that if we're talking about the importance of rebuilding our economy. The needs of workers who care for their families has to be at the head, not at the back of the line. As as Jocelyn said there are overwhelming gender and racial justice implications and failing to enact these policies that support workers caring for their families. And those equity considerations also have to be front and center. So to delve into those questions of where the gaps in our federal laws are and what we need to do to create new policies to fill them. This is just an amazing panel and I because of the time limit I have to introduce them very briefly they deserve much more of an introduction so please go to the new American website to see all the things that they they have accomplished to date. In any event we have Katerisa Martinez de Castro who is deputy vice president at you need us us and is a real leader in the Latino community. Marcia Sanjalaer Finn, who is the managing owner of bright start bilingual center in Washington DC, and brings the perspective of a small business owner who is also an advocate for children parents and staff. Mark Friedman who is the Vice President for employment policy for the United States Chamber of Commerce, and has worked responsibly on many of the issues that we're talking about today. Vicki Shabo who is a fellow at the new America Foundation, working on paid family medical leave issues. She is an expert and has been a leader in the fight for federal family medical leave policy for at least a decade. And Tina backs to as my co founder and co President of a better balance, an organization that we founded 15 years ago to fight for policies that support workers, so that they don't need to choose between care for their families and their economic security. So we're going to start out, we're going to start out by talking about the needs that should be centered in inclusive policy making in the caregiving space and I'm going to ask Tina to talk about the particular needs of low age mothers and family caregivers. So first let me just just say that, you know what a better balance we are inspired and driven by women like dream of April and Tasha and Virginia every day and so proud to be fighting alongside them for policy change. The labor of caregivers as we heard from our distinguished speakers and amazing panelists, especially low income mothers of color has long been undervalued in US law and policy. And this was a problem long before the pandemic. We actually found it as you pointed out Jerry, a better balance 15 years ago to tackle this care crisis, but the pandemic has laid bare the urgent need for solutions. It's evident that a lack of childcare paid family medical leave makes work in caregiving not just difficult but truly impossible, as many women in our most essential workers can't work from home and desperately need solutions like paid leave and affordable childcare to hang on to their jobs and ensure their kids and safe and well cared for, and nobody in America should be in a position to have to be by a seriously child side and and and worry about earning a paycheck. I just want to say you know we talk about the motherhood penalty but really women start getting penalized when they become pregnant. We call it a pregnancy penalty and Tasha's painful experience highlights the unbelievable fact that pregnant workers in America, especially women of color and low wage jobs are routinely denied modest workplace accommodations because in 2021 federal law still treats them like second class citizens. And this bias continues post childbirth with new mothers routinely deprived the time and space to pump breast milk, and millions of others forced to return to work weeks after childbirth because they have no paid leave. That's why we need the pregnant worker fairness act the pump for nursing mothers act and a permanent paid family medical leave policy once and for all. And we also heard how rigid and flexible work rules routinely punish pregnant workers and mothers and all caregivers leading to economic lasting economic disadvantage. I always think about the New York City mother who needed to modify her work schedule by 15 minutes to get her special needs child on the school bus, but instead was placed on the overnight shift. In the recent survey we conducted with a comptroller's office in New York that moms of color and low wage jobs not only have the least access to workplace flexibility, but they're far more likely to experience retaliation for requesting it. And finally, I just want to say, you know, Virginia story highlights the brutal impact of punitive attendance policies, which many professional workers have no idea actually exist, but are huge issue for work women in certain industries, particularly women in low wage jobs, and they are incentivizing them to show up for work sick or Rick's losing their job or caring for a seriously a loved one. We did a report misled and misinformed, which really highlights, you know, the brutal impact of these policies. And, you know, we're so proud to be representing Virginia and her effort to challenge Walmart's attendance policy with respect to, you know, works with disabilities and thrilled the EOC has found probable cause in that case, because really, we need to work together again and no worker in America should be punished for lawful absences under the law. That's great thank you so much Gina. I'm Clarissa. I was, I was hoping you could speak to some of the particular needs and challenges that are facing the Latinx and immigrant communities with respect to workplace issues and economic justice. Thank you Teri and thank you everybody on behalf of when you as you as the nation's largest that you know civil rights and advocacy organization. I'm really grateful to be part of this conversation that as we try to center really workers in their experiences into what should shape the policies we advance to have the opportunity to share how Latinos and immigrants and Latinos are experiencing the current challenges of the moment which are based on long standing conditions as many of you have mentioned, and first and foremost, welcome to infrastructure week. The administration forges ahead with an ambitious plan to make sure that the country's infrastructure is modernized. We must continue to center the human element that is part and parcel of modernizing that that infrastructure so that bridges and roads matter The ban matters, the food chain matters, but so much the men and women who actually have to perform the jobs to get those things done. Clearly, as many of you have shared, I think that what we have seen in the last year is not necessarily the beginning of, but shining a brighter light on some of the cracks in our society's foundation, which basically mean battling a health pandemic exacerbated the underlying conditions of racism and discrimination and the inequality that they create for Latino specifically the last four years have been incredibly challenging time. And due to those cracks in the foundation I think we've seen the disproportionate impact that the pandemic has had, and it's not because blacks Latinos American Indians are more sickly. But when you have systems that prevent people's access to health care for decades, chances are, you may have some underlying health conditions is that when you have jobs that you cannot do remotely, and that don't offer the necessary or basic protections that you need to stay safe that you may have a higher exposure to getting infected. But when you live in an intergenerational household or in a larger household in order to be able to afford it over your head, you may not be able to distance in the home. And finally, and not only but it is also that when you're part of a family with mixed immigration status, where the economic supports that were needed to make ends meet, even when they were made available where denied to you and your family. That chances are you're going to experience disproportionate impact. And so what we have seen, we have seen that express both in terms of health outcomes as well as economic outcomes. And we particularly since we're talking about women who are at the center of caregiving, not only for their families, but in our Latino community and for the families of many others. And what we have seen is that they were already facing a wage, a gender wage gap, even before the pandemic. And now that is being exacerbated as the burden of care, which they were already carrying is increasing. At the same time, impacting their ability to stay in the work person provided for their families because they themselves don't have access to caregiving supports. I did want to emphasize because it is also important to note when we work together and make progress because that feeds our goals to continue ahead and to do things in particular that more than 5 million people in mixed immigration status families will now be able to access stimulus and of critical importance also that the expansion of the urban income tax credit will benefit 4 million childless Latinos in the increased I'll tax credit credit to the work of so many to make these things possible. Clarissa thank you. I think there, there's some technical technical problems. So, move on to Marcia but that that was wonderful. That was great, great perspective. And, you know, a lot of a lot that we really do need to take into account when we're thinking about these policies that we're developing. Marcia, could you talk a little bit to the, to the childcare perspective in terms of the needs. That we have going forward and in the in rebuilding the care economy. I'm sorry I had to find a good sport I was having in and out issues. We're all having problems. I'm sorry. Yeah, everyone understands. Okay, good. Okay, good. I'm glad you can hear me. I was getting a little nervous. That's like oh my goodness. Anyhow, yeah, so thank you for having me here today. I am delighted to be part of the styling and to be part of the solution to find national paid family leave and paid seek leave and pregnancy accommodation in respect to childcare. Like we've all said I don't want to be redundant that you know we've seen how childcare is very essential. And since that's not a service that can be provided from a distance. I think even more attention should be given to it. The providers early, early childhood educators that provide that service should be respected in terms of being offered better wages, better pay time off, better benefits. So we can take care of our future leaders. And one of the things I'm very proud to be an early childhood leader and owner, because I think that we do a very important job. And for too long we have not, childcare has not been seen and still is not being seen, until now, how essential and how important it is, because we are the ones, you know, impacting the lives of children and creating the future The same children that we tend to think are not important are the ones that are going to dictate our policies and procedures tomorrow. It is scary to me when, when that is not taken seriously. So I think we've advocating for national paid family leave, paid pregnancy accommodation, and also paid sick time, definitely really speaks volumes for early childhood education. And it will really increase the respect in early childhood and still the importance that it is, it has been, but has never been recognized as so definitely, I would love to see that being made into law across the board. Thank you, Marcia. Thanks so much. And, and Vicki, maybe you could talk a little bit also about about about paid family leave and, and the policies that that we need to include to make that and the other, the other policy policies we're discussing equitable and inclusive. Thanks. I'm really excited about this event and the voices that it's bringing together particularly centering the workers at the beginning. But you know I think, I think what we have seen through this pandemic is all of the different reds that weren't working for whether they weren't working for workers who were entirely excluded because of immigration status, whether for low income, low wage mothers and women of color, because of rules, or private sector practices that weren't inclusive of the caregiving needs that they had, whether a small business owner particularly in the childcare sector like Marcia, who needed more investment before and needs it now, and the parents that they serve and we haven't yet gotten to mark but we will. We know that there's a large business case here to a larger business case. So, you know, this is, I think we heard Heather say beautifully sort of a critical moment for rescue and rebuilding with a focus on job creation and supports for families and the way that that all contributes to creating a stronger income. And I think what we've seen is that we can't do that, without creating workforce policies that recognize people have lives at home that require either them to provide care or to find affordable care for their loved ones, and to continue their income into their families we've seen, you know that that women's labor force participation is just as essential to the economy as women's household income wages are to their incomes, and to their families sustainability so this is a key moment. I think it's really exciting to see the years of policy progress at the state and local levels and the evidence that has been generated from those policies and the difference that they can make for for women for all caregivers in outcomes health and economic outcomes for children and families. The important role that they've played in bolstering small businesses in a number of states, and the effects that they've had overall and labor force participation and earnings and how we can now use this moment to ladder up those lessons, the level and thinking about how we create a national paid family and medical leave policy that reflects lessons of the states, including around equity principles, like affordability so ensuring that benefits are high enough for workers and particularly low wage workers to be able to ensure that they are gender equal. We've had all women speaking so far and there's there's one man on this panel but this is not just a women's issue this is a family issue. Men want to be able to provide more caregiving the better life lab has done some great research on men and caregiving recently and I encourage folks to look at that. If men are more participatory in their households and providing care women will be more able to participate in the workforce there will be reduced explicit and implicit bias, and we can get to that place of gender parity that actually will contribute to the work that there's to GDP so we need to be equitable in wage replacement we need to be equitable in the provision of leave we need to create a culture that makes it okay for people to take the leave that they need so that they're not facing the kinds of absence control points that we heard about earlier about the threats about losing your job that we heard about earlier. And, and we need to ensure that people can get back to those jobs when they are have have ceased whatever their urgent caregiving our family or medical need is. So, you know, I think we're at this at the precipice of being able to do this. I hope that there's now more alignment between kind of the work that advocates have been doing for a long time, and the economic imperative and workforce imperative to get women back into the workforce to support caregivers to dealing with the aging population I got a question in the chat about what to do about the mismatch between the aging population, which is growing in size and the number of family caregivers available to provide care and what that means for both creating better care jobs for paid caregivers but also more leave for unpaid caregivers. So I am really excited and optimistic about this moment. It feels right for change, and I hope that we can get there. Thanks Vicki. So, I mean I think you know what's important is is is getting all this done, you know actually passing legislation and policies that will really help and support caregivers. It's really broad as well as deep support. And among some of the reasons that legislature last legislators give us for opposing paid leave, for example, is the repeated idea that business is against it. We have seen business involvement in getting some good policies and so I want to Dean and mark to talk a little about business support for the pregnant workers fairness act. Just as an example of of how how businesses worked with advocates and and and try to you know in moving moving policy forward. So mark if you want to start out by just talking about the chain, the chambers position. Thank you for including me. Dean and I were joking earlier that turn about seems to be fair play. We had her visit one of our committee meetings and talk about her efforts moving paid leave bills in the States. And so now she's invited me to be part of your session. And I would just want to make the point that this is what's required this type of cross pollination. Opportunities to be in front of each other and have respectful discussions is is how will move forward on an issue as complicated and necessary as a paid family leave program. And the pregnant workers fairness act I mean, Tasha earlier, I think, really demonstrated why that bill is necessary. And frankly, I think she is exactly the kind of case that we would envision being helped by the pregnant workers fairness act. We came together with many people on this on the session. Dean in particular because we thought there was a good endpoint there was a good goal here to pursue. And to the credit of our friends on the other side. They found a way to work with us and we found a way to work with them. We came together in good faith to try and find a solution and I'm very proud of where we've ended up I think it really reflects. The interest of both of all parties and yet gives pregnant women in the workplace. A really good path towards getting accommodations and relief from the situations like what Tasha described. And let me just note that you know, okay fine. We're the Chamber of Commerce. We're not a normal participant in these conversations and I'm sure that some people had to get used to seeing us in these conversations. Probably a little skepticism, but I hope we've demonstrated that we're sincere in our interest in supporting these causes and I would just say that as we come into the discussion on paid leave. We are just as sincere about trying to find a solution in that in that regard. Thanks Mark. That's, that's really, that's really helpful. Tina, if you can talk about, you know, just briefly because we were kind of running into time problems but if you can talk about how important, you know, the importance of what Mark was just talking about in terms of pushing forward the federal PWA. Look, having the support of the US Chamber on the pregnant workers fairness act has been instrumental to the movement thus far, you know, on the bill. It's, you know, it's been crucial having the Chamber make the business case explain, you know, why clarity in the law is so important. Why this is not a job killer but actually critical for helping women stay, you know, healthy and attached to the workforce some of the very arguments that we're making around paid leave. And, you know, I think that, you know, I think Mark really talked about a good faith dialogue I think that certainly was true in the last couple of years. You know, we were really committed to seeing if we could find common ground without compromising our core values I mean we weren't willing to compromise on those pieces that would undermine key protections for pregnant workers and I'm really proud that we went up with a bill that I think added clarity but didn't compromise that. I think that is from our perspective was not just because the Chamber, or folks love pregnant workers is because we learned also from years of working in the states and around the country, how this problem plays out for workers on the ground. And we work state by state with business leaders to really understand their concerns and address their misconceptions, we slogged away from, you know, from New York City to Massachusetts to Kentucky to Tennessee. And not just to pass but to implement the law understands where they work understand which provisions are critical. And, you know, not just on paper but in practice so I think that that's really that's been really important and just a shout out to our southern office who's just had incredible work in moving this bill I think having, you know, you know, a leader from the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, testified our first hearing on the pregnant worker fairness act was incredibly valuable. So just huge thanks to to the Chamber and to other business leaders but you know for really speaking up for the importance of, of this issue and hopeful will hopeful will get there on on other issues such as paid leave. Yeah. So moving forward. I, it would be great if this panel could talk about the most important issues which I think we've surfaced to a certain extent already. But also what do we need to move them and how are we going to move them forward. So, they give you want to start out by talking about state of play on leave that would be great. Sure. So, just to set the baseline I don't know that anybody's actually done this yet but prior to the pandemic there were about 110 million workers that did not have dedicated paid family leave through their employers, about 80% of the workforce, about 60% that don't have short term medical leave through their employers and access is much much lower for low wage workers. There are, I think as you said sharing nine states plus DC that have implemented paid family medical leave laws, they've each gotten better in terms of wage replacement in terms of the definition of family in terms of innovations and the duration of leave. And, and those innovations have been built on the evidence that shown what has and hasn't worked for lower wage workers in particular, and for those without protection of FMLA, which carves out a lot of people from job protections. So, you know what what we are looking for at the federal level is a comprehensive national permanent paid family and medical leave law that covers the birth or adoption of a child or the placement of a foster child. And this is specifically for a worker to care for a seriously ill injured or disabled loved one, the ability to deal with your own serious health condition, and for the same military caregiving purposes that are covered by the unpaid family and medical leave Act. This has this was a need well before coven. This is an even more dire need because of COVID we now have a whole bunch of people who now have a new chronic condition or who need to care for people with chronic conditions. And the income inequality that pre existed the job quality conditions that pre existed have gotten worse. So this this is an urgent need we can't come through a pandemic. I would argue without implementing a national pick on medical leave law. And, and so the state of play is, you know, Congress experimented with this one model of emergency paid leave, which was requiring some employers to provide it carving a full number of others out, including the employers of workers who were on the front lines in large retail establishments and food establishments and warehouses during the pandemic, and then providing them tax credits. We've seen from state evidence that it would have been much more effective to have a national program that covered all working people no matter where they lived or their job or whether they were a traditional employee or a gig worker. So this is a place prior to COVID we would have been a much better shape and that's what we need coming out of this experience. It's exciting to hear that the second phase of the president's plan the press the New York Times and the Washington Post are reporting that a national paid family and medical leave law will be included or program will be included in the second phase of the build back better plan that the president's announcing during the campaign, Biden Paris campaigns each endorsed at least 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave. So I'm excited to see what that looks like. Obviously we're in a highly divided Congress and so the best and most likely way to pass this will be through the reconciliation process, but even that I think is going to require the coming together of a lot of different stakeholders to make the case that this is, you know, central to families that families are central to the economy. And that that paid leave can be a benefit for both businesses and, you know, large and small and for workers. So that's kind of where we are. I think there's core principles that can't be compromised on because otherwise we won't achieve the equity, racial and gender and economic equity imperatives that that paid leave can provide. But I think this is the time and if we don't do it now then I don't know when we will. Well, following up on that, Mark, maybe you could talk a little in terms of stakeholders talk a little bit about the chambers evolution on this issue and and how you see national paid leave as a workforce issue playing out. Sure. Well as as Dean and Vicki have heard me say at nauseam. The chamber has gone from essentially in the just say no mode to, can we find a way to say yes. And that's pretty significant shift. We are being driven as I think just about every association is by our members. And in particular, our larger members who are finding the patchwork effect of the various state laws and in some cases local laws to be really an administrative burden. I mean, it's eating up resources that they would rather be putting into their paid leave programs. And and the desire is to get something a system where they can have what we call a national platform where they can have one program across the country. That they can they can work in, and it would solve a lot of problems for them. That's really I think the first thing that we're looking to to get in a package there are other things we'd want to push for, but that's really the thing that we would need to see the first to be able to get on board. You know, just just to respond to Vicki's suggestion or or or projection that the way to do this would be through the budget reconciliation process. I really hope that we can find a way to do this in another way. I mean, it just is so big and will be so much better if there's a way to come together and have a have a package that all parties and particularly employer side can support. I'm not going to guarantee Republican support on this. It's going to be a heavy lift. But it's such a better way to do this that it's worth the effort to try and try and figure out a way to do that. Okay, that's that's, it's really great to hear to your perspective on that. Obviously, there are a lot of roadblocks here and we have to figure out ways to get around. Whatever comes up, the ultimate goal is to get a program and to get a program that is equitable. And so I'd love to hear from Clarissa just about, you know, what what you would see as as some of the more important elements of a paid leave program. If we were to be able to put one together that would be our ideal. So, and first I want to say that I welcome mark and I think that it makes complete sense for the US Chamber of Commerce to be a stakeholder. After all, and ensuring that we have a stable driving and strong US workforce because that's good for business. So, very happy that they're part of this effort. Look, America's Latino community has one of the highest labor force participation rates of any other racial or ethnic group, and as a community we're still struggling to make ends meet that really goes to show that when we talk about jobs. Yes, we need to make sure that we're investing in jobs and making jobs available, but that we also need to make sure that there are jobs that are that allow people to support their families in a healthy way. So, already before the pandemic most Latinos did not have the security needed to take time from off from work, whether it was to because they were sick or to take care of a loved ones. That's actually the lowest level of access to those kinds of policies, and we talked about the burden of care, particularly among Latina women to take care of their families. If you combine that with not having access to any paid sick leave or paid family leave, then you can see the forces that are contributing to the exodus of Latinas having to leave the workforce in order to tackle that burden of care. So those policies are really important. And the things we talked about today, these are not intractable challenges right we need to ensure that economic relief and assistance, even the one that we are able to get through that actually reaches the most impacted and that also means that there are many communities of color that the women within those communities of color. And this may sound a little bit off, but frankly, even immigration policy matters, because when we are seeing is that millions of American families are prevented from doing all sorts of support programs because of the legal status of their members, even if they're currently working and supporting the relief and recovery of the country. Looking at those things at the base, but also the access and affordability of healthcare and the increase in expansion of anti hunger and support programs which many women have been relying on as they continue to provide for their families. Thanks so much. Of course, that's that's really helpful. Marcia, maybe you could also chime in on the perspective both as a small business owner and also, well, yeah, as an employer and somebody who sees every day, you know, the parents who are struggling with issues around economic relief. If you had if you could, you know, if you could talk a little about that and Marcus is talking a lot about, you know, about the business case, and what what business needs, but you know us a small business owner could could probably speak also to the, the needs that you have as as an employer. Thank you for that. Yeah, and as a early childhood small business, like I said earlier, we have most of our employees are usually it's low paid job, and we demand a lot. And I think having, and we had a case in point out give a little story of one of my employees that had, she had cancer and as a small business, one of the things we do offer in our capacity. We don't have time off, but it's not enough for her to take to attend to her radiation needs. So that being being a national becoming national would have afforded her to choose focusing on getting better rather than having to come to work between therapy. And I had to get at a point it's like you can't be at work because you're not well but she's like I won't be able to be homeless. So it was a really really difficult choice she had I had to see you stay home take yourself will give you advanced pay you just come back and work for us when you feel better. And it was I didn't it is a financial burden but at that point I had to humanize the situation, because as a mother and also a leader championing my team to give their very best. I had to find it in myself to give them the best you had to show your best. And the best I could show was to give her the time to take care of her health, you know, and then not trying to choose between homelessness and a job. So if it's a small business, if that's on the national level, we won't have to bear that brunt and that burden. And it wasn't one case that happened to two cases. And I was like, Oh my goodness, if this continues ho, but pretty greatness of God and the parents are very supportive they to a strain by the high cost of childcare that we're able to continue to provide a high quality care. We're talking about childcare on the national level, not just childcare but high quality childcare. We want to put our training environment where they can be exposed to just about everything that goes on in where they're not in a great community. So we shouldn't have to choose. I put my child in this decade because it's close to home and I need to go to work. So while we fight for quality, while we fight for childcare, we have to fight for high quality childcare. So it doesn't matter where you leave with your zip code is you can put your child in a childcare setting. I know that your child is going to be careful and be exposed to healthy things, healthy meals, healthy engagement, healthy activities. And I think the Commerce Department definitely can help women empower women to feel that. Yes, you can go back to it because your child, no matter where you leave, can still get that quality of care while you work, peace of mind at work, while your child is having so much fun. And that's what a small business owner and as an early childhood educator and leader, I would really like to see that childcare treating the, whether it's men, it's dominantly women, but we see men coming into the field because we never need to see that fathers can be caregivers too. And if we elevate the pay that they get, we can get have, we can have more male coming into the industry, because they want to do it but because of the pay, they can't. I think, you know, elevating the way we treat in terms of benefits, pay time off, good pay, a living wage pay at least, then we can attract both men and women to provide that quality childcare that we so all need to help America get back to work again. Thank you. Thank you. That's great. I mean, this is this is an incredibly rich discussion. I'm just going to go to Dean and now we've both, we've been talking about a lot of different things but I think there are probably some other issues that we haven't touched on quite as much that you might want to Dina. Quickly, and then just we'll go around very quickly for some final, just final comments, quick, final comments, but didn't take it away. Oh, you're a mute. Okay, super quick. I mean, obviously the need for quality affordable, you know, childcare support caregivers, a family medical leave. It's unquestionably important, you know, we also need to pass the pregnant worker fairness act once, you know, as soon as possible because this problem is only getting worse. And we also, you know, need to, as you heard from, you know, Tasha and from, and from others and from Virginia, you know, passing laws a step one we also really need to show robust enforcement of our laws and that workers really know their rights, and these abusive attendance policies and think about the incentives that are hurting workers to actually, you know, face these impossible choices between their job and their paycheck beyond, you know, passing new laws. I just say that, you know, enforcement ending these abusive attendance policies that violate the law, and really thinking about how we can expand access to flexibility and fair scheduling are also really important policy supports we need to think about as we build back better. Right. It's not, it's not just about an infrastructure it's about supportive work family policies that were problems long before the pandemic and are continue to be a problem today for workers. And if we could just go around really quickly with final remarks from everyone. Vicky. Sure. I mean I think I'll just underscore again we're at a key moment where policy culture change private sector practice and sort of public policy imperatives are all coming together and I think it's incumbent upon all of us and the groups that we work with and the people that we serve to try to get something done. And to make sure that we're incorporating the innovations of the states, we're not precluding states from doing things but we are creating some national standards that ensure people have access to the rights and protections that they need no matter where they are in an effort to support families and growth. Thanks, Clarissa last thoughts. Okay. Stay in touch with your elected officials, your members of Congress right now will have these things come before them. As folks have said at the state level at the local level there are discussions about this. But let them know what is needed, as experienced by the folks whose policies this will impact, because if we increase the demand for good behavior. That's what we can hope can produce better behavior than what we've seen, and the solutions delivered that we've been fighting for for way too long. Yeah, good point. Marcia, any last last thoughts. I would like to say I'd like thank you for that miss DeCaster. Definitely I want to stay in touch with lawmakers to make them to really see and not just be childcare be a fleece in fact, but that childcare credit be given directly to parents rather than through the government block grant block grants because it's only given the certain portion of the population, but to be widely spread so that everyone gets fear, fear credit for childcare and also in terms of workers also, but small businesses and I'm glad that there is an employee retention credit being given to small businesses right now, especially during this pandemic and hopefully that can continue on some level even not at this level but at some level so employees can get better pay because it's very important to retain the best and brightest that they are paid equitably. So I would love to see that be a permanent issue and not just fleece in because of the pandemic that we're in. And mark you have last word here. Let me take advantage of the question that was posted to the chat asking me to speak a bit more about how businesses view things like pwfa and what are the impediments and challenges that they see. And I think this sort of speaks to the broader discussion we're having. Sometimes employers just don't know that they need to do something. Now that sounds a little self serving but sometimes they need to be educated. The beauty of the pwfa is it builds on a on an already understood concept from the ADA. And it brings clarity to something that's really right now quite confusing in the wake of a Supreme Court decision. And so that's why we like the law because it brings clarity, and it relies on processes that employers should already know how to work with. So that's a good, good model to follow. The paid leave question is more complicated. No question about it. I think there's, there's a way to get to a compromise bill to a solution that we can all support. As others have said, we're in a new world on paid leave that the pandemic has certainly shown us that more people need leave for different reasons. More variations on leave coming online. The earth has not stopped spinning on its axis. So, you know, we're taking note of this and we're, we're coming to the table trying to say, let's figure out how to move forward in a way that we can all support because this is too important to have it done. I think on a one sided model. I do believe, you know, call me naive call me an optimist. I really do believe there's an opportunity to find a mutual agreeable solution here. Thank you so much. Thank you to everybody I know, you know, there are questions in the chat and I really apologize but we are kind of over time. And, but please like you can contact any of us. There's one question about how grassroots organizer can get involved. If you contact us, we are in, we are in touch with people in the states and at the federal level, and anybody who wants to, you know, ask questions or, or, or get more information. Any of the panelists here, and definitely new American and better balance is available to answer those questions, or to talk to anybody who wants to talk some more. Thank you so much for joining us today. And really, we're asking all of you to join us in the fight at the federal level for for better workplace policies that support families and caregivers, the things that we've been talking about today that things that you heard from the first panel that people really need. And specifically join us and the paid leave for all campaign to try to get paid family and medical leave over the finish line. The Healthy Families Act six sick days over the finish line during ABB and trying and over 200 other organizations and trying to get the pregnant worker fairness act passed at the federal level, as well as the as pushing for better childcare policies and better ways of funding, the things that Marcia was talking about. And, and, and also, as we've alluded to a little bit, the need for home health care. So again, thank you so so much for being with us for this this this this panel I think it's been great I think you know everyone has has really contributed a lot. This has been recorded so anybody who wants to hear it again can. And again thanks to thanks to all the panelists panel one and panel two and to Jocelyn and Heather as well.