The smoldering heat originates mostly from the coal-fired wealth of Joe Manchin, the Senator from West Virginia who continues to oppose the child tax credit on the grounds that mothers should be required to “work” (meaning, earn money) in order to get assistance. Still, it’s pretty clear that this keystone of the Build Back Better act, this policy that dramatically… Read more →
Category: care policy in the electoral arena
Republican Women, Intersected
Back in November, if you remember, a much larger percentage of women than men voted for Joe Biden (55% compared to 46%). The big news was that the gender gap remained about the same as in the 2016 presidential election, despite Trump’s callous disregard for women or public health. The race/gender intersection proved more salient: 93% of Black women voted… Read more →
Not O.K., Boomers (with postscript)
I must be a boomer, because I can never remember the difference between Generations X, Y (Millennials) and Z. Yet I am a fan of the phrase “OK, Boomer,” because it’s a relatively polite and pleasantly concise, if ironic, way for young people to explain “there’s a reason why we disagree.” And this reason is a good one: generational differences… Read more →
Populist Prism, Patriarchal Facet
Just use your eyes. Here’s how Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times saw the impeachment of Donald Trump: “You could watch the debate with the sound off and understand. All day, Republican speeches delivered by old white men alternated with Democratic speeches from women, people of color and young people. White men make up 90 percent of the Republican… Read more →
Cut Child Poverty by Half
The United Kingdom did it between 1999 and 2008. The Canadian government implemented a plan to do it in 2016. The U.S. almost did it between 1967 and 2016: cut the incidence of child poverty by half. Right now about 13% of U.S. children live in families with incomes below the poverty line. One could quibble with this number (based… Read more →
The Childcare Conundrum
Like one of my journalist faves, Katha Pollitt, I would like to move public support for child care higher on the progressive wish list. So I was happy when Senator Elizabeth Warren stepped up with a specific proposal; I hope she has garnered enough publicity to send other potential presidential candidates to their drawing boards and spreadsheets. The Warren proposal gets good marks… Read more →
Try, Try, Try Again
As the dust settles from the mid-term elections, I look back at the fate of a referendum in Maine with special regret. The proposal to fund home care for all disabled and elderly residents was well-designed. It had the support of a strong grassroots campaign (for more details, see websites for the Maine People’s Alliance and Mainers for Home Care… Read more →
After the Care Crisis
The opening question of a conference titled “After the Care Crisis” at the University of Pennsylvania on November 15 and 16 2018, was “What would an equitable relationship among care workers, employers, and society loo like?” You can find the program here (I hope it stays up!)–unique in bringing scholars and activists together. Started on Thursday night with a screening… Read more →
Make Time for Overtime
You have an important opportunity between now and September 4 to weigh in on a proposed U.S. Department of Labor rule change that would offer more overtime protection to salaried workers. This may seem like a somewhat indirect, even bureaucratic, way to stick up for workers rights, but it will matter. Consider it a contribution to a long and venerable… Read more →
Elect for Child Care
Like a little kid who has just gotten a grip on the monkey bars, universal childcare has finally made it to the national political arena. President Obama has been cheering it on from his oddly sidelined position, and his office has effectively summarized the definitive economic case for public investment. Hillary Clinton puts child care front and center in her… Read more →