WASHINGTON, D.C. — Care champions alongside advocates, elected officials, families, older adults, disabled people, early childhood educators, and care workers gathered in D.C. for a week of action calling on leaders to pass comprehensive care and paid leave legislation. Caring Across Generations’ Executive Director Ai-jen Poo opened up a rally at Union Station on Tuesday, April 9, alongside care champion President Joe Biden and advocates from the country’s largest labor unions and grassroots organizations to show their power and raise their voices in calling on Congress to pass care policies in 2025.
“We need paid family and medical leave. We need care for our aging and disabled loved ones. And we need the workers who provide that care to be able to provide for their families too. To everyone at home, know that you are not alone. We are together in this fight, and the Biden-Harris Administration is fighting alongside us,” said Poo. “President Biden has brought care to the center of our economic agenda. He and Vice President Harris have championed our policies, from child care, to paid leave, to home and community-based services, to better pay for care workers.”
Following the momentum of the rally, advocates gathered again for a congressional town hall on Wednesday joined by Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie Su, Senators Bob Casey, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders, and Congresswoman Katherine Clark to highlight the need for Congress to immediately invest in child care, aging and disability care, and expand paid family and medical leave.
Advocates ended the week with a White House Care Convening where Neera Tanden, Assistant to the President and Domestic Policy Advisor, Jennifer Klein, Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Gender Policy Council, Lael Brainard, Assistant to the President and Director of the National Economic Council, Stephen Benjamin, Senior Advisor to the President, Senior Advisor to the President and Director of the Office of Public Engagement, and Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services provided remarks. Together, leaders and advocates demanded Congress to fully fund our care infrastructure in order to build a resilient economy and a sustainable future where all families can thrive.
The week of action coincided with two historic care milestones: The White House’s second proclamation declaring this April “Care Workers Recognition Month” and the one-year anniversary of the signing of the White House Executive Order on Care meant to strengthen paid leave and child, aging and disability care.
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Caring Across Generations is a national organization of family caregivers, care workers, disabled people, and aging adults working to transform the way we care in this country so that care is accessible, affordable and equitable— and our systems of care enable everyone to live and age with dignity.
To achieve our vision, we transform cultural norms and narratives about aging, disability and care; win federal and state-level policies; and build power amongst the people touched by care. For more information, visit caringacross.org.