Caregiving is the glue that holds families and society together. But when it comes to caring forour loved ones, it is viewed as a personal responsibility. And that responsibility primarily falls on women, including those who are caring for their parents AND their kids; or those who are juggling caring for an elder while holding onto a paid job. It’s no surprise that caregivers often feel that they failed – that they don’t earn enough or didn’t save enough or don’t have the right insurance. But these are not “personal problems”, they are universal problems that impact over 50 million Americans today! And without a comprehensive approach to addressing the care crisis in America, we will suffer as a society.

We now know that at the beginning of the pandemic, many families were isolated from one another, unable to visit across cities or towns or states, and for those who had loved ones in nursing homes, they were unable to see them for over a year, even if they were dying. This had both an emotional and physical toll on us as a society. Even now, as we have somewhat acclimated to the “new normal” of COVID, this crisis of care rages on.

If there’s any silver lining to the pandemic, it’s that it has pushed us past any illusion that care can – or should – be an individual responsibility managed by any single person, regardless of how prepared we think we are.

Our nation needs a care infrastructure that addresses the complex needs of families today. Our country has failed to create programs and policies to support the care we need. In fact, the US is one of few developed nations that has no paid family leave program, no universal childcare, and no long-term care program. While we update and maintain the infrastructure our roads, bridges, airports and broadband access, we must invest in caregiving programs and systems as a public good, providing access to a full range of services and supports, just as physical infrastructure provides access via our transportation and communication infrastructure.

Over a decade ago, I launched a campaign called Caring Across Generations, to bring all of us who have a stake in a strong care infrastructure together. When the pandemic took hold, along with dozens of organizations^[1] who work on child care, long-term care and paid leave, we launched the Care Can’t Wait coalition. Our charge has been to seize the moment of pandemic awakening and crisis to push Congress to make robust investments to expand access to childcare, paid family and medical leave (PFML), and home- and community-based services (HCBS), and to ensure good jobs for the care workforce.

Together, we moved hundreds of thousands of constituent calls, organized town halls online and in person with the Vice President, Cabinet members, celebrities and everyday caregivers, families and recipients of care, organized lobby days, press conferences, and more.  We succeeded in helping to pass legislation in the House that included historic investments in all the pillars of our agenda. And while legislative action is still in limbo in the Senate, we have entered a new phase of progress and awareness about the urgency and power of the care agenda.

We have a once in a generation opportunity to build the care infrastructure we all need so that our children and our grandchildren don’t have to go through what we have been through: the isolating experience of struggling through the financial and practical challenges of caregiving as an individual responsibility. 

When we invest in care, especially in the home and community, we improve the quality of life and care for people who prefer to age at home. We improve the quality of work for millions of care workers who want to do this work. We enable working family caregivers to return to work because they have the support of care workers. We save the system money because home and community-based services costs states much less that institution-based care, and we strengthen the infrastructure needed to care for a growing older population long term. There has never been such a win-win-win.

The “shape of care” is changing. It’s shifting from an individual burden we carried alone to a shared responsibility we can all benefit from. It’s shifting from a struggle often quietly experienced in isolation to a national concern on our economic policy agenda. And it’s taking the shape of an investment rather than a cost, because we see the social and economic returns it generates for us today, and will generate for our children in the years to come.

If you’d like to get involved, you can sign up to be a part of Caring Across Generations, www.caringacross.org. You will be joining a growing movement of caregivers, people who rely on care, and their families, working toward building a future that supports and values care. 

Ai-jen Poo is an award-winning organizer, author, and a leading voice in the women’s movement. She is the President of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Director of Caring Across Generations, Co-Founder of SuperMajority, Co-Host of Sunstorm podcast and a Trustee of the Ford Foundation. Ai-jen is a nationally recognized expert on elder and family care, the future of work, and what’s at stake for women of color. She is the author of the celebrated book, The Age of Dignity: Preparing for the Elder Boom in a Changing America. Follow her at @aijenpoo