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The
virtual meeting, which a White House source said was likely the
first of many that Harris will hold specifically with women in
power, focused on how women have been affected by job losses,
small business closures and a lack of childcare as well as how
Biden's plan will address these issues. Nearly 400,000 childcare
jobs have been lost since the outset of the pandemic, Harris
said. (COVID-19 graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/34pvUyi)
The COVID-19 pandemic has had an outsized impact on women, who
lost jobs at a higher rate than men and have struggled to return
to the workforce because of the need to care for children unable
to attend school.
Specific carveouts in the COVID-19 relief bill are designed to
address problems faced by women, including an investment of $40
billion in childcare, paid family leave for 100 million
additional workers and an investment of $130 billion to help
re-open K-12 schools safely.
"For me this is personal.... The longer we wait to act, the
harder it will be to bring these women back into the work
force," Harris told the group calling the situation where 2.5
million women have left the workforce a "national emergency."
That compares with 1.8 million men who have left the work force
during the same period, according to Labor Department data.
"In one year...the pandemic has put decades of the progress we
have collectively made for women workers at risk," she said.
Harris said the package would "lift up nearly half of the
children who are living in poverty in our country," a claim
backed by analysis by Columbia University.
Attendees included House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman
Rosa DeLauro, Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions
Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray, Representative Barbara Lee
and Senator Catherine Cortez Masto.
Harris has already been deeply involved in policy and diplomacy
in the early weeks of President Joe Biden's administration.
Earlier she met with Black Chambers of Commerce and Black mayors
at a meeting convened by the African American Mayors Association
to talk about COVID-19 relief, and this week held a call with
French President Emmanuel Macron.
Harris' meeting on Thursday occurred as Congress has more female
members than ever before, with 27% of all seats, more than
double the number in 2001. The vast majority of women lawmakers
are Democrats, and a growing percentage of women have voted for
Democrats in recent elections. Black women rallied behind Biden
during critical turns in his 2020 presidential campaign.
Murray said women are facing challenges with remote learning for
children, so they must get them back into schools safely. "Women
are leaving the work force because of this," she said.
The meeting also included Melanie Campbell of the Black Women's
Roundtable; Jen Earle, National Association of Women Business
Owners; Service Employees International Union President Mary Kay
Henry and Tina Tchen, CEO of the anti-sexual harassment group
Time's UP.
"Our economy cannot fully recover unless women can participate
fully," Harris said.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose and Steve Holland in Washington;
Editing by Heather Timmons, Cynthia Osterman and Lisa Shumaker)
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