Hollywood actors Charlize Theron and Amy Schumer are among celebrities pushing an effort for what has been dubbed the “Marshall Plan for Moms,” pressuring the Biden administration to give mothers monthly payments for their “unseen, unpaid labor.”
Dozens of influential women signed a letter, led by Girls Who Code, addressed to President Biden, urging him to establish a task force to create a “Marshall Plan for Moms” which would provide “short-term monthly payment to moms depending on needs and resources” and pass “long overdue policies like paid family leave, affordable childcare and pay equity,” the letter reads.
While there is no specific dollar amount in the letter, Girls Who Code founder and CEO Reshma Saujani proposed $2,400 payments in an op-ed last year.
Schumer, cousins of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY), is among celebrities who signed the letter. Others include Still Alice actress Julianne Moore, Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria, and outspoken anti-Trump actress and activist Alyssa Milano. Other signers include Birchbox’s Katia Beauchamp, The Lip Bar’s Melissa Butler, and Tabitha St. Bernard-Jacobs of the progressive Women’s March.
The letter addressed to Biden, begins by identifying moms as the “bedrock of society” and adds “and we’re tired of working for free.”
“Like the original Marshall Plan of 1948, this plan would be a financial investment in rebuilding from the ground up,” the letter states, appealing to the negative effects of the Chinese coronavirus, which they say has “decimated so many” of their careers. “Two million of us have left the workforce, at a rate of four times that of men in September alone. Millions more have been forced to cut back our hours or work around the clock to keep our jobs and be full-time caregivers.”
“This is not an isolated incident — it is a national crisis. You didn’t create this problem, but your administration has an opportunity to fix it,” the letter reads, ultimately calling on the administration to “put a dollar figure” on the labor of motherhood, as it “isn’t a favor and it’s not a luxury” but “a job.”
“The first 100 days are an opportunity to define our values. So let’s start by valuing moms,” it adds.
Today, @GirlsWhoCode took out a full-page ad in the @nytimes calling on the Biden administration to support moms by implementing a #MarshallPlanForMoms in the first 100 days. 50 prominent women signed on to our letter.
Take action and add your name: https://t.co/1o14L9yRsy pic.twitter.com/7xGQXXygW4
— reshmasaujani (@reshmasaujani) January 26, 2021
Good Morning America ran a positive segment on the demand, highlighting a mother who cannot imagine going back to work in the restaurant industry while her children are “distance learning at home because of COVID.”
Watch below:
The call comes as Congress continues to negotiate with the Biden administration on the amount provided to the American people in the form of stimulus checks in the next coronavirus relief proposal. Dozens of progressives are calling for recurring payments.
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