IV 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 605 

Recognizing that the United States needs to support and strengthen mothers 

in the workforce by investing in the Mom Economy. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 20, 2023 

Ms. MENG submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing that the United States needs to support and 

strengthen mothers in the workforce by investing in the 

Mom Economy. 

Whereas mothers are an essential part of the American workforce and the United States economy; 

Whereas 2,500,000 women left the workforce in the first year 

of the COVID–19 pandemic, compared with 1,800,000 

men, largely as a result of the burdens of childcare, work, 

and remote learning; 

Whereas maternal employment fell by 15.7 percent as a result of the COVID–19 pandemic, compared to paternal 

employment which fell by 9.6 percent in the same time 

period; 


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•HRES 605 IH 

Whereas at least 4 out of every 10 women report having experienced gender discrimination at work; 

Whereas, on average, women are paid 77 cents for every dollar paid to men; 

Whereas Black women, Latinas, Native women, and many 

communities of Asian-American Pacific-Islander women 

experience higher poverty rates and higher wage gaps 

compared to White, non-Hispanic men; 

Whereas women occupy close to two-thirds of jobs that pay 

the Federal minimum wage or just a few dollars above 

it; 

Whereas even 1 percent of mothers leaving the workforce 

would result in an estimated $8,700,000,000 economic 

fallout for families; 

Whereas strong investments in childcare are essential for 

women’s full employment, and United States gross domestic product would increase by 10 to 15 basis points 

with such investments; 

Whereas half of families in the United States with children 

under the age of 18 have a mother who contributes at 

least 40 percent of household earnings; 

Whereas mothers of color play a vital role in the financial 

stability of their families with 79 percent of Black mothers, 64 percent of Native American mothers, 49 percent 

of Latina mothers, and 43 percent of Asian-American 

and Pacific-Islander mothers serving as breadwinners; 

Whereas, in addition to the economic security that mothers 

provide for their families, mothers are more than 3 times 

as likely as fathers to be responsible for most of the 

housework and caregiving in their households; 


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•HRES 605 IH 

Whereas, in addition to caregiving for children, mothers disproportionately shoulder unpaid caregiving responsibilities for older relatives and other family members with 

disabilities; 

Whereas women are twice as likely as men to say that taking 

time off had a negative impact on their professional development; 

Whereas industries dominated by women disproportionately 

fail to provide family-friendly workplace benefits like paid 

family and medical leave, health insurance, and retirement plans; 

Whereas 44 percent of workers are not eligible for unpaid, 

job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons as provided for by the Family and Medical Leave 

Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.); 

Whereas 3 out of 10 women without access to paid leave exit 

the workforce after giving birth; 

Whereas paid leave policies can reduce the number of women 

leaving their jobs by 20 percent in the first year after 

welcoming a child and up to 50 percent after 5 years; 

Whereas mothers sometimes find childcare costs are almost 

as much as their paychecks, creating a financial incentive 

for mothers to leave the workforce in exchange for 

childcare duties; 

Whereas 40 percent of parents have gone into debt due to the 

high costs of childcare; 

Whereas the childcare crisis costs the United States 

$122,000,000,000 each year, including $78,000,000,000 

in lost earnings and job search expenses, 

$23,000,000,000 in lost workforce productivity, and 

$21,000,000,000 in lost tax revenue; 


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•HRES 605 IH 

Whereas a significant investment in childcare is simultaneously job creating and job enabling, creating good jobs 

and supporting parental employment; 

Whereas, by encouraging women to remain in the workforce 

full time, access to paid leave and childcare significantly 

boost mothers’ lifetime earning potential; 

Whereas the 2021 temporary expansion of the child tax credit 

lifted 3,700,000 children out of poverty; 

Whereas families used the child tax credit to cover routine expenses, improve nutrition, decrease reliance on credit 

cards and other high-risk financial services, and make 

long-term educational investments; and 

Whereas families of color saw the largest quality of life improvements due to the expansion of the child tax credit 

in 2021: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that— 

3 (1) the United States needs to prioritize a Mom 

4 Economy that invests in the caregiving infrastruc5 ture required to adequately support and empower 

6 mothers in the workforce and sustain a thriving 

7 economy; 

8 (2) mothers, especially mothers of color, face 

9 systemic economic and social inequalities that re10 strict their ability to balance parenting responsibil11 ities with workplace roles and limit their professional 

12 advancement; 


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•HRES 605 IH 

1 (3) mothers play an integral role not only in the 

2 financial well-being of their families but in the pro3 ductivity of the American economy as a whole; 

4 (4) the United States should invest in its moth5 ers by expanding and developing the social safety net 

6 in order to secure meaningful and sustainable eco7 nomic growth by investing, at a minimum, in pro8 grams including— 

9 (A) robust paid family and medical leave 

10 plans for all workers, including— 

11 (i) paid parental leave following the 

12 birth of a child or the placement of a child 

13 for adoption or foster care, provided in 

14 equal amounts for all parents regardless of 

15 gender; and 

16 (ii) paid leave policies that can be 

17 used for family caregiving and workers’ 

18 own medical leave; 

19 (B) paid menstrual leave and remote work 

20 accommodations for workers experiencing de21 bilitating menstrual or menopause symptoms; 

22 (C) investment in the childcare industry 

23 with the goal of providing universal childcare 

24 and early learning, including— 


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1 (i) robust funding for the Head Start 

2 and Early Head Start programs; 

3 (ii) Federal financial support for 

4 childcare programs to guarantee all fami5 lies have access to affordable and high 

6 quality child care; and 

7 (iii) commitments to pay childcare 

8 workers a dignified, living wage; 

9 (D) access to nutritious food as a health 

10 and human right, including through— 

11 (i) boosting SNAP maximum and 

12 minimum benefits and removing barriers to 

13 access, including time restrictions and ad14 ditional work requirements; and 

15 (ii) increasing funds for school meals 

16 and other nutrition programs to combat 

17 child hunger and making school meals 

18 more accessible; 

19 (E) the implementation and expansion of 

20 child poverty reduction tools that improve in21 come security, infant and maternal health, and 

22 educational and economic outcomes into the 

23 second generation, including— 

24 (i) a permanent expansion of the child 

25 tax credit; and 


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1 (ii) improvements on the earned in2 come tax credit, which lifts millions of peo3 ple above the poverty line each year and 

4 boosts labor force participation among sin5 gle mothers; 

6 (F) addressing the Nation’s maternal mor7 tality crisis through critical investments in ma8 ternal health care, including ensuring access to 

9 the full range of reproductive health care and 

10 family planning; 

11 (G) raising the Federal minimum wage 

12 higher for all workers, including tipped workers, 

13 and adjusting it on a yearly basis to keep pace 

14 with inflation; and 

15 (H) investments in legislation that ensures 

16 protections for LGBTQ+ mothers in the work17 place such as the Equality Act and reduces 

18 wage discrimination such as the Paycheck Fair19 ness Act; and 

20 (5) United States policymakers should include a 

21 specific focus on working mothers in future policy22 making, beyond the aforementioned policies, includ23 ing with regards to economic policy, fiscal policy, 

24 and social safety net policy, in order to ensure that 

25 working mothers and other caregivers can continue 


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1 to balance their roles as family anchors and care2 givers with their work and economic contributions, 

3 both to their families and the economy of the United 

4 States. 

Æ 


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