New York City Council will introduce new legislation on Wednesday, May 12, to help revitalize and restore mothers in the workforce, in recognition of the negative impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on women, and on working mothers in particular.

The announcement regarding the upcoming legislation was made on Saturday, May 8, on the eve of Mother’s Day, and the legislation comes at a critical time. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, approximately 5.4 million women have lost their jobs across the country, which is nearly a million more than men.

According to the council, in New York City, the pandemic has forced 52 percent of women who provide care to family members to reduce their paid working hours, compared to one in three men, according to a poll by the New York City Comptroller’s Office. The crisis was most severe for women of color, of which 36 percent needed to take time off to care for a child, compared to 29 percent of white women.

To help address these issues, City Council Member Alicka Ampry-Samuel, who represents parts of Brooklyn, is introducing a bill to form a “Marshall Plan for Moms” New York City task force. Its goal is to develop recommendations on how to support working mothers and caregivers as New York City continues its recovery from the pandemic.

In addition, Council Member Laurie Cumbo, who also represents parts of Brooklyn, is introducing a resolution that calls on Congress to pass the “Marshall Plan for Moms 2021,” a resolution introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congresswoman Grace Meng. The resolution seeks to help create a path for a robust paid leave, along with affordable childcare for mothers who had to leave the workforce due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, according to the council, the federal resolution calls for strengthening child poverty tools such as a child tax credit and earned income tax credit; expanding unemployment insurance benefits; strong Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits; a federal minimum wage increase to $15 an hour; and mental health support for moms.

The Marshall Plan is a reference to U.S. efforts to help Europe recover from World War II. The “Marshall Plan for Moms” is a movement to center mothers in the country’s economic recovery and push for policies that support them.

Members of the proposed City task force will comprise officials appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson. The task force is tasked with coming up with recommendations designed to support working mothers and caregivers. In particular, the task force will explore:

• The benefits of providing recurring direct cash payments to moms and other caregivers and of a comprehensive paid family leave policy for all employers in the city
• How to best revitalize and restore the role of mothers in the workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic and following recovery;
• The biggest contributors to and solutions for addressing the lack of family-supportive workplaces;
• Access to rent relief, public assistance and financial support for mothers and caregivers in the workforce
• Rebuilding and stabilizing the childcare industry
• Access to culturally sensitive, affordable and quality healthcare for women and families, regardless of job status; and
• Access to mental health support for mothers and other caregivers, which is essential to maintaining the health of the family.

Johnson, who campaigned in the Spuyten Duyvil section of The Bronx on Saturday alongside local Councilman Eric Dinowitz, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and Congressman Ritchie Torres, said the economy can’t recover without mothers in the workforce. “We can’t expect them to work, if the infrastructure isn’t there for them to manage work and family life,” the speaker said. “Paid leave and child care should not be based on how much you earn or where you work. They should be universal, so we can end the inequities our nation has tolerated for too long.”

Meanwhile, Cumbo said mothers don’t need cards and praise once a year. They need child-care and access to paid leave year-round. “During this pandemic, mothers were expected to do the impossible. They cared for young children, taught those in school, helped sick family members, and too many had to leave the workforce because they didn’t have the support they needed to continue [working],” she said. “When mothers suffer, everyone suffers, and if we want our City and country to recover, we need to find ways to make sure we create systems where working mothers can thrive and don’t have to quit or reduce their hours when there is a national crisis.”

Ampry-Samuel said on Mother’s Day, the City needed to get real about what moms are dealing with right now. “This pandemic has made so many of their lives excruciatingly difficult, and we’re never going to have a full recovery if we don’t step up and support them,” she said. “That’s why I am so proud to be sponsoring this bill to create a ‘Marshall Plan for Moms Task Force,’ which will examine the struggles mothers are facing and help find ways New York City can address these challenges. These problems didn’t start with the pandemic, but it’s clear they’ve gotten worse and will continue to get worse if we don’t take steps now. Let’s be part of the solution.”