We value our freedoms. The freedom to be there for our children and families when we’re needed most, to choose what’s best for our families, to send our kids to schools where every child belongs and can thrive, and to be able to earn equal pay and a living wage. It’s well past time for policies that allow our children to have the best start in life, parents and care workers to thrive, and our elders to have the best golden years possible.
Moms are rising for quality, affordable child care, and for aging and disability services. For paid family and medical leave when a new child arrives or a serious illness strikes. For medications and health care, including mental health services, we can afford. For the freedom to make our own decisions about if, and when, we grow our families without interference from politicians.
Moms are rising to make childbirth safe for everyone. To welcome immigrants with dignity and respect. To invest in communities instead of prisons. To have all of our votes counted. For our children and families to live without gun violence, community violence and police violence. For the wealthy and megacorporations to pay their fair share.
Moms are rising to advance programs that unite and lift us all — and to make clear that well-funded efforts by a vocal minority to divide us and take away our freedoms through censorship, book bans, health-care denials and more do not provide the solutions we want or need. We know the solutions that will lift our nation and put families first.
These are the top 10 policies every leader should support right now:
1. Workplace justice and paid family and medical leave: Advance permanent, comprehensive paid family and medical leave, and earned sick time laws that give every working person access to paid leave. Raise the minimum wage, abolish the tipped minimum wage, achieve pay equity and transparency, and protect LGBTQIA+ people from discrimination through laws and executive orders. Learn more here.
2. High-quality child care: Expand access to high-quality, affordable child care and pre-K in a publicly funded, comprehensive early care system that ensures family-supporting wages for early educators and provides choices to families to meet their needs — regardless of race, ZIP code, ability, identity, the language they speak or any other factor. Learn more here.
3. Access to health care and aging and disability care: Secure quality, affordable health care for everyone by reducing prescription drug prices and health-care costs. Expand Medicaid coverage by closing the coverage gap and increasing access to aging and disability care so unpaid family caregivers can rejoin the labor force. Provide fair compensation and support for care workers, who are disproportionately women of color and immigrants. Learn more here.
4. Fair taxation: Support families and end child poverty by extending improvements to the Child Tax Credit, including full refundability and access to the credit for ITIN filers. Enact tax policies that guarantee wealthy individuals and megacorporations pay their fair share, which will generate revenue for the care economy infrastructure the country needs and provide SNAP, WIC, unemployment insurance and other vital programs that support low-income families. Learn more at here.
5. Culturally relevant, non-carceral mental health care: Address Americans’ top health concern by advancing federal investments in culturally relevant, non-carceral mental health resources for youths, parents and grandparents, so families have the support they need to thrive. Learn more here.
6. Maternal justice: Improve health and well-being before, during and after pregnancy, and stem the alarming rate of maternal mortality. Protect the full range of reproductive health care, including abortion care, particularly for Black communities and communities of color that are marginalized and whose reproductive health-care needs are too often ignored. Make critical investments in maternal health care that will save moms’ lives, end racial and ethnic maternal health disparities, and advance birth equity for everyone. Learn more here.
7. Fair treatment of immigrant families: Recognize the contributions of immigrants in our communities and care infrastructure. Create a pathway to citizenship to protect “Dreamers,” TPS and DED holders, essential workers and farmworkers. Welcome immigrants with dignity and respect while protecting their right to seek asylum under United States and international law. Learn more at here.
8. Fight gun violence: Stop the loss of lives, livelihoods, wages and well-being caused by the escalating gun violence crisis by dismantling the culture of gun glorification and enacting commonsense gun safety laws, such as universal background checks and bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Learn more here.
9. Youth and family justice: Replace failed criminal and legal interventions that harm families by advancing non-carceral public safety strategies and investing in public health approaches. End mass incarceration and mass criminalization. Invest in trauma-informed care, nurses and therapists in schools, and move away from school-based law enforcement. Advocate for accurate and inclusive public education as the foundation of a just democracy. Learn more here.
10. Democracy protection: Expand voting rights by increasing access to the ballot while blocking policies that make it harder to vote; make Election Day a federal holiday; and stop election interference to restore faith in our democracy, deepen mom-voter engagement and mobilize mom voters. Learn more here.
MomsRising is a network of people just like you, united by the goal of building a more family-friendly America.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of ParentMap.
