TIME’S UP Care Economy Business Council

Ready to join the Council? Fill out the form HERE.

Our economy cannot reach its full potential without women, and women cannot reach their full potential without a reimagining of care.

The intertwined health, economic, and racial justice crises of the last year have forced over two million women out of the labor force and tens of millions more to curtail their hours, pass on new professional opportunities, and sustain untenable levels of stress while working and caregiving to support themselves and their families. The situation for women of color has been especially dire, as they endure crisis levels of unemployment, while their communities confront historic racial injustice and suffer the disproportionate impact of the COVID pandemic. Without immediate action, economic damages will mount and women may lose a generation of progress.

Business has a responsibility to take action. Caregivers make up the backbone of our economy—whether you are a mother juggling work, child care, a household, and virtual schooling, a single woman struggling to recover from an illness, a childcare worker facing long-term unemployment, or a daughter caring for aging parents, at some point in your life, you or someone you know will need care. Yet our workplaces are not built to support the care we need at each stage of life.

The caregiving crisis is affecting business operations and companies’ bottom line: one third of all U.S. employees have left a job during their career in order to manage an unmet caregiving responsibility. Nearly 50% of companies reported lack of child care as an impediment to hiring or calling back workers during the pandemic. And the costs associated with turnover alone can run as high as 213% of an employee’s salary
A comprehensive, holistic approach to caregiving is not only essential to rebuilding our economy but has : 90 percent of registered voters agree that providing support and services for people with children and aging, ill, or disabled family members will provide economic stability for millions of people. This includes 8 out of 10 Republicans.

About the TIME’S UP Care Economy Business Council

The Care Economy Business Council is a coalition of large corporations, small businesses, entrepreneurs, and investors that is working with TIME’S UP to:

Shift the cultural narrative around who is responsible for care;
Encourage and enforce equitable practices to support caregivers in their own workplaces and the private sector;
Rally investment in innovative solutions to fix the caregiving crisis; and
Advocate for key public policy interventions to move us towards more fair and equitable workplaces for all.

We are assembling an incredible coalition of companies – spanning every industry – to push for the creation of a comprehensive care infrastructure at this critical moment. Together, we can reimagine the world of care, support caregivers of all kinds, and build workplaces that are more fair and equitable for everyone.