What mothers really want on Mother’s Day

As we celebrate mothers today, let's take a moment to think about how we can truly support mothers in America.

Safe and affordable child care.

In nearly every community in this country—including all 36 counties in Oregon—there's simply not enough child care available for every family that needs it. And that was before the pandemic.

Now, child care is a crisis. And we're not going to get parents back to work until affordable, accessible child care is available to all who need it.

We've made some progress.

I championed the American Rescue Plan to include $39 billion in child care support, and last month the Biden-Harris administration released that funding. This investment will help child care providers pay rent, keep workers employed, and pay for PPE and ventilation.

It will also provide direct subsidies to about 800,000 families who need high-quality child care.

The American Rescue Plan also dramatically expanded the size of and the eligibility for the child care tax credit—including making it fully refundable for low-income families.

But we must do more.

Under the American Families Plan, middle-income families would pay no more than 7% of income in child care expenses, and most low-income families would pay no fee. The plan would also dramatically boost pay for child care workers and provide professional development.

These solutions, adopted by the Biden-Harris administration, come out of legislation that I've backed for years-- the Child Care is Essential Act, the Child Care for Working Families Act, and more.

No child care, no economic recovery. It's just that simple. As one mom told me recently, "if child care crumbles, if it even gets a fraction more difficult to find, then our collective ability to work crumbles too."

Making child care affordable and accessible for working families is one of my top priorities. And now, under this Congress and this White House, it's also one of our nation's top priorities. We'll keep working until the job is done.

And to all the moms out there: I hope you have a Mother's Day filled with love, joy, and rest. You've earned it.