Thread by @aijenpoo

As I write in @nybooks, this pandemic has suddenly created mass public awareness about the importance of care work.

We are struggling to take care of our families in new ways, and finally recognizing how crucial caregivers are to our economy & society.

nybooks.com/daily/2020/05/…

Even before the crisis, it was all on the brink of collapse - families were struggling to afford care, while our underpaid care workforce could barely make ends meet. As our population ages and family structures evolve, our reliance on the care economy just continues to increase.

The combination of increased need for care work and the terrible working conditions placed enormous stress on both families and workers. The care economy was a house of cards on the point of collapse. With the pandemic, that collapse has come.

Covid-19 has made clear that a bold, national vision for our care economy is urgently needed.

Care must be universally affordable and accessible, and we need care jobs to be good jobs.

We need homecare workers, nannies, and house cleaners to earn livable wages and paid time-off, so they don’t have to choose between their health and their income. And we need family caregivers to have the support they need, when they need it, to care for their own families.

To match our country’s newfound recognition of care workers as essential, we must take care of them, too—by protecting & compensating them accordingly.

My hope is that someday we will look back on this time of crisis as the time that taught us how to truly care for one another.