Recognizing the roles and the contributions of care workers in the United States and expressing support for the designation of April 2023 as "Care Worker Recognition Month".

IV 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. RES. 303 Recognizing the roles and the contributions of care workers in the United States and expressing support for the designation of April 2023 as ‘‘Care Worker Recognition Month’’. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 18, 2023 Mrs. DINGELL (for herself, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. EVANS, Mr. TONKO, Ms. CRAIG, Ms. JACOBS, Ms. BALINT, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. MENG, Ms. BUSH, Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida, Ms. STEVENS, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. VEASEY, Mrs. WATSON COLE- MAN, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. DELUZIO, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. ALLRED, and Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia) submitted the following res- olution; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned RESOLUTION Recognizing the roles and the contributions of care workers in the United States and expressing support for the designation of April 2023 as ‘‘Care Worker Recognition Month’’. Whereas there is a growing need on the part of families and individuals for care and support, from childcare to serv- ices for older adults and people with chronic illnesses or disabilities; VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 Apr 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR303.IH HR303 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HRES 303 IH Whereas childcare workers provide the essential service of taking care of a child’s basic needs while fostering a child’s early emotional, social, and intellectual develop- ment; Whereas direct care workers enable older adults, people with disabilities, and children with complex medical needs to remain in their homes and communities and live healthy, independent, and dignified lives by providing support with critical daily tasks such as eating, dressing, personal hygiene, and community activities such as working, going to school, and engaging with neighbors and friends; Whereas investment in care workers is vital to labor force participation and a strong economy; Whereas care workers give family caregivers the assurance their children, parents, and loved ones are in the hands of professionals and that their homes are being looked after; Whereas care work is a profession that particularly benefits women, who account for the majority of this workforce, and which enables other women to participate in the labor force; Whereas access to childcare and home and community-based care helps families boost their economic stability by work- ing for pay, taking fewer days off, and pursuing opportu- nities to advance their education and careers; Whereas when families are forced out of the labor market due to caregiving responsibilities, they will experience dimin- ished income, access to benefits, and retirement savings over their lifetimes; VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 Apr 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR303.IH HR303 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HRES 303 IH Whereas children who receive high-quality childcare are healthier, more likely to graduate from college, and have higher incomes; Whereas older adults who have home care and services avail- able to them have better health and a higher quality of life; Whereas substandard wages and poor working conditions continue to fuel shortages and high turnover in the care industry; Whereas the median annual earnings for full-time childcare workers and home care workers is less than $30,000, and as a result, nearly 1 in 6 home care workers lives in pov- erty, and 1 out of every 3 childcare workers is experi- encing food insecurity; Whereas COVID–19 both heightened the existing challenges and placed new stress on care workers, leading to burn- out and exhaustion; Whereas the demand for home and community-based care services is growing because the population of adults who are 65 and older will nearly double by 2050, while cur- rently 10,000 people per day are turning 65; Whereas 88 percent of aging adults prefer to receive long- term supports and services in home and community-based settings; Whereas across the United States, approximately 656,000 aging individuals and people with disabilities are on wait- ing lists to access home and community-based services through Medicaid; Whereas home care jobs are the jobs of the future, with this workforce projected to add more new jobs than any other VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 Apr 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR303.IH HR303 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HRES 303 IH single occupation in the country and will add more than 1 million new jobs from 2020 to 2030; Whereas home care is high-value work that provides services to millions of people deserving high quality jobs that re- flect their value; Whereas unpaid caregiving economic value is estimated at $470,000,000,000; Whereas turnover and shortages in the care workforce are costly to the economy because they lead to higher costs for employers who need to continuously hire and train new workers; Whereas large-scale labor force exits due to childcare needs cost the economy an estimated $57,000,000,000 annually in lost income, productivity, and tax revenue; Whereas investing in care infrastructure will lead to fewer staffing shortages and higher productivity, while ensuring a more robust and stable pipeline of workers for busi- nesses; and Whereas investing in direct care infrastructure specifically will result in savings because it costs approximately $58,000 per person per year to receive care and services in their homes in contrast to $90,000 per person per year in semiprivate congregate settings: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1 (1) expresses support for the designation of 2 ‘‘Care Worker Recognition Month’’; 3 (2) recognizes the roles and the contributions of 4 America’s home care workers in providing the care 5 necessary for older adults and people with chronic 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 Apr 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR303.IH HR303 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HRES 303 IH illness or disabilities to live independently and in 1 dignity; 2 (3) recognizes the role and contributions of 3 America’s early educators and childcare workers in 4 providing a nurturing, enriching environment for 5 children to grow and learn; 6 (4) recognizes the roles and the contributions of 7 America’s care workers in enabling caregivers the 8 opportunity to pursue educational attainment, and 9 to remain in or reenter the workforce; 10 (5) recognizes that the care industry is crucial 11 to economic growth; and 12 (6) thanks and promotes the profession of care 13 workers. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 Apr 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR303.IH HR303 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS