This plan to get moms paid for their work is gaining steam

Being a mom is a full-time job. Now there’s a plan to help us get paid for all the work we do—and it’s gaining steam across the country.

It’s called the Marshall Plan for Moms.

Spearheaded by Girls Who Code founder Reshma Saujani, the plan is urging the government to pay mothers a $2,400 monthly stipend for their labor throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

The plan also calls for paid family leave, affordable childcare and pay equity.

Over 100 prominent leaders and celebrities have signed on to support The Marshall Plan for Moms, including Eva Longoria, Amy Schumer, Gabrielle Union, Steph Curry, Don Cheadle and Colin Farrell.

In January, Saujani took out a full-page ad in the New York Times, calling on the Biden administration to implement the plan. Now, it’s gaining steam in Washington, D.C.

This week, Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tammy Duckworth introduced a resolution in the Senate that supports the Marshall Plan For Moms.

“We must take action immediately to support working moms as we rebuild our economy,” said Sen. Klobuchar. “This resolution recognizes that mothers have been pushed to their limits during the coronavirus pandemic, and we need to have their backs. There’s no time to waste as we work to pass a coronavirus relief package that will meet the needs of our nation’s moms, including a robust paid leave plan, affordable child care, and access to mental health support resources.”

Klobuchar and Duckworth are joined by Senators Tina Smith, Jacky Rosen, Ron Wyden, Martin Heinrich, Jeff Merkley, Sheldon Whitehouse, Richard Blumenthal, Sherrod Brown, and Dick Durbin.

Congresswoman Grace Meng has already introduced a similar resolution in the House of Representatives.

“As I have said, moms throughout America are screaming out for help,” she said. “Moms – especially moms of color – have been pushed to the brink of economic, social, and emotional collapse due to the COVID-19 crisis, and the Marshall Plan for Moms is a blueprint to make sure moms have a fighting chance, and that they are protected against any future economic calamities,” said Rep. Meng.

The Marshall Plan for Moms is after the 1948 Marshall Plan, an initiative that provided financial investments in Europe to rebuild after World War II.

Saujani argues that the Marshall Plan for Moms is long overdue. It’s not about handouts or rewards for simply bearing children. It’s about righting economic imbalances that have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since the pandemic began, over two million women have left the workforce. It’s a staggering number and even more women have been forced to cut back their hours or work around the clock in order to provide full-time care for their children.

With the closures of daycares and schools, families are without the support network that enables parents to work full-time. Women are bearing the burden of those closures.

American job losses are also concentrated in the service sector, where women are overwhelmingly employed. The U.S. has seen steep job losses in hospitality and retail, where women have been disproportionately laid off.

The pandemic has dealt American mothers a twofold blow: The industries where women are overwhelmingly employed are seeing record job losses. And mothers who haven’t been laid off are being forced to cut back their hours or leave their jobs entirely in order to care for their children.

That’s where the Marshall Plan for Moms comes in, argues Saujani.

“It’s time to put a dollar figure on our labor. Motherhood isn’t a favor and it’s not a luxury. It’s a job,” she writes.

In an op-ed for The Hill, Saujani explained why the plan deserves your support.

“A Marshall Plan for Moms will stimulate the economy,” she argued. “It will give women the support they need so they can— eventually—get back to work. And it will send a hugely important signal to little girls and young women across the country: that our society values the contributions of women, and that their careers, dreams, and lives will not be taken for granted.”

At Motherly, we support ideas to better value the critical paid and unpaid work that mothers do.

Related Stories

News

What Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential win means for American mothers and families

Viral & Trending

‘My marriage doesn’t come before my kids’: The viral post sparking a family-priority debate

Viral & Trending

Mom of 3 shares the unexpected words from a stranger that brought her to tears