A Powerful Discussion on the Value of Caregiving

Last Wednesday the Purpose team visited the United Nations for “The Key to Economic Growth,” a panel event on the topic of caregiving that featured several of our partners. The panel was moderated by Lisa Kassenaar, the Editor-at-Large on Global Women’s Coverage for Bloomberg News. Panelists included: Shelia Lirio Marcelo, Founder, Chairman, and CEO, Care.com; Ai-Jen Poo, Co-Director, Caring Across Generations; Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director, UN Women; and Anne-Marie Slaughter, President & CEO, New America. The discussion shed light on how gender equality cannot be achieved without addressing the fundamental question of care and why caregivers are key to economic growth.

Purpose is excited to be working with Care.com, Caring Across Generations (CAG), the National Domestic Workers Alliance and New America on a critical social movement to change cultural norms around caregiving in the United States to better reflect its true social and economic value.

By the year 2050, as our aging population makes elder care as important as child care, 27 million people will require some form of care assistance. If action is not taken, American families will face a severe shortage of trained, quality caregivers and America will have to bear the economic, financial, and social consequences of decades of underpaid caregivers requiring public assistance. It is vital that we change how we value care in the US today so we can attract the caregivers we need for tomorrow.

We’re at a critical moment in time when there is a growing focus on the challenges facing modern working families and the expanding “flex” or on-demand economy (of which caregivers such as nannies, elder caregivers, and other domestic workers likely make up the largest percentage of workers). The 2016 election also presents a unique opportunity to focus public attention on the care crisis.