As we look to the future after the pandemic, the lessons we have learned over the past 17 months are haunting us. We have learned who our essential workers are and what happens when the invaluable contributions they make to our society and economy are suddenly cut off. We rely on care workers on a daily basis, service workers who provide us with what we need most. And we have learned that many policies designed to protect our health and safety in times of crisis often fail many of those most at risk.

The pandemic is not over, but the work to rebuild our economy for the next era has begun. We need to understand what a fair and equitable economy looks like: putting women and people of color at the forefront, not just including them; designing future jobs that meet the needs of a changing society and support families; and prioritizing racial equity as a fundamental component of the economy.

That's why we are today working to ensure that essential workers in the home - nannies, house cleaners, and home care workers (such as care aides and home helpers) whose work makes all jobs possible - have the rights and protections they need and deserve in the "National Domestic Worker Bill of Rights" (opens in new tab) that guarantees them the rights and protections they need and deserve. Currently, there is no national law that provides basic labor protections for domestic workers, and only 10 states have implemented statewide initiatives.

When the pandemic brought the economy to a halt and we were displaced, domestic workers, who number nearly 2.5 million across the United States, were hit particularly hard. Domestic work, by definition, takes place in someone else's home. For them, remote work does not exist. According to a study by the National Domestic Workers Alliance, "Six Months of Crisis: How COVID-19 Impacted Domestic Workers (opens in new tab)," more than 90% of workers lost their jobs due to COVID-19 by March 2020, workers did not know when they would get their jobs back, and six months later they were earning lower than pre-epidemic They were earning wages that were lower than before the epidemic. These were 91.5% (open in new tab) women, 52% (open in new tab) black, Hispanic, or AAPI, many of whom were already earning poverty wages (a typical domestic worker earns $12.01 an hour (open in new tab) and is three times more likely to be in poverty than other workers) This is a devastating situation for workers who are

Domestic work has always been associated with and performed by women, especially women of color. When domestic workers were specifically excluded from the workers' rights and protections of the New Deal policies of the 1930s (open with a new tab), the devaluation of this important work was codified, and the legacy of gender and racism in domestic work continues today. But thanks to generations of organizing domestic workers, we now have the opportunity to enact federal policies that can establish new standards.

The National Domestic Workers Bill of Rights provides domestic workers with general workplace protections such as paid overtime, paid sick leave, safe and healthy working conditions, and meal and rest breaks. It also provides new protections to address challenges unique to domestic work, such as written agreements, fair scheduling, and assistance for survivors of sexual harassment. It establishes a standards committee composed of worker, employer, and government representatives to ensure that these workers' rights are implemented and enforced through mechanisms that protect against retaliation and promote public education and awareness.

This law is historic. Endorsed by Labor Secretary Marty Walsh (opens in new tab), Vice President Kamala Harris (opens in new tab), and President Joe Biden (opens in new tab), the bill is a step toward racial and gender equity at a time when the unequal nature of the economy has become apparent. It addresses policy inequities that have persisted for almost a century and aims to create an economy that values caregiving labor. Because, as we have consistently reminded ourselves over the past year and a half, we are all in this together.

When the National Domestic Workers Bill of Rights was first introduced in 2018 (opens in new tab) and introduced in 2019 (opens in new tab) by Congressman Jayapal along with Senator Harris (opens in new tab), we will see historic numbers of women (opens in new tab) -including women of color- ran for and won Congress, we felt the power of the 2018 midterm elections. We knew then that this bill was vitally important. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, these changes are even more urgent.

The number of new COVID-19 cases caused by the delta form (open in new tab) is increasing and is expected to peak in the coming months. Before that happens, we have a thousand opportunities to turn domestic jobs into sustainable, secure jobs for essential workers today and for the growing care economy we will need in the future. So let's get to work.

The subjects in the photos are for illustrative purposes only.