Carol Joyner, Executive Director of Family Values@Work Action released the following statement regarding President Biden’s FY2024 budget:
“Family Values@Work Action applauds President Biden for prioritizing care and working families in the federal budget proposal. It is often said that budgets are moral documents and yet it is rare to see our moral center — all families — represented in a federal budget. This budget does just that! It is one of the strongest budget proposals for care issues: comprehensive paid family and medical leave, expanded childcare and pre-K funding, permanent funding for the child tax credit and greater support for home and community-based services.
In February, our partners across the country recognized the 30th Anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Although more than 400 million people have benefitted from FMLA since 1993, only about half of the workforce have access to it. A measure of hope was restored when at he White House celebration for FMLA30, President Biden and Vice President Harris expressed a deeper commitment to making paid family and medical leave a reality – a goal they plan to accomplish while in office. This budget and the proposed $325 billion is a down payment on this promise. It makes comprehensive paid family and medical leave a possibility for all and could fund the equity provisions that reach all families: comprehensive coverage, job protection, progressive wage replacement, inclusive family definition and a minimum of 12 weeks of paid time off.
President Biden’s budget recognizes the myriad needs that our families have. In budgeting for a permanent child tax credit, childcare and pre-K programs, the care workforce and elder care support systems, he connects two related values: a strong economy and socially secure families. In doing so, the President lays a strong foundation for the care economy that we all need.”
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Family Values@Work Action is the sister organization to FV@W the national network of coalitions fighting for paid time to care and universal childcare. We focus our efforts on dismantling structures of racialized and gendered caregiving and building political means to ensure full democratic participation.
