Amy Schumer and Eva Longoria are urging the government to pay mothers a $2,400 stipend for their labor as the COVID-19 epidemic continues.
The actors were among 50 female public figures who signed an open letter to President Joe Biden, urging him to implement a “Marshall Plan for Moms” within his first 100 days in office.
The plan, proposed by Girls Who Code founder Reshma Saujani, would also create a parental leave policy, affordable childcare, and pay equity. It was modeled after “The Marshall Plan,” an initiative passed in 1948, that provided economic aid to Europe after World War II.
“COVID has decimated so many of our careers. Two million of us have left the workforce at a rate of four times that of men in September alone,” reads the letter, which appeared as an ad in Tuesday’s New York Times. “Millions more have been forced to cut back our hours or work around the clock to keep our jobs and be full-time caregivers.”
The letter, that was also signed by Gabrielle Union, Julianne Moore, Alyssa Milano and Charlize Theron, ends with a call to action for Biden.
“It’s time to put a dollar figure on our labor. Motherhood isn’t a favor and it’s not a luxury. It’s a job,” the letter says. “The first 100 days are an opportunity to define our values. So let’s start by valuing moms.”
While speaking with Fast Company, Saujani explained that women are currently experiencing a “collective sense of exhaustion."
“We’re in a national crisis for mothers,” Saujani explained. “This crisis has exposed the undue burden we place on mothers. The labor participation of mothers is what it was in the 1980s. Think about how much we’ve lost in the last year.”