Motherhood Is a Job: 50 Prominent Women Run Ad Calling on President Biden to Implement Marshall Plan for Moms in First 100 Days Headlines Become the Fire

Fifty women signed a letter in the New York Times, led by Girls Who Code founder and CEO Reshma Saujani, calling on the Biden Administration to create a task force dedicated to implementing a "Marshall Plan for Moms," to pay mothers for their unpaid, unseen labor and to pass policies addressing parental leave, affordable child care and pay equity.

"This pandemic has absolutely decimated the careers of working moms across the country," said Reshma Saujani, founder and CEO of Girls Who Code. "This is not an isolated incident – it is a national crisis, and we can start to address it within the first 100 days of this Administration."

According to a report from the National Women's Law Center, more than two million women have left the U.S. workforce since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. A December 2020 report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated that women were leaving the workforce at four times the rate of men.

"In December, all the jobs lost in the U.S. economy were lost by women," said Saujani. "And the situation is particularly bad for black women, 154,000 of whom left the workforce entirely. We need to put in place a plan for moms, and we need it now."

"Sound crazy? It's not," says the letter, which ran as a full page ad in The New York Times. "It's time to put a dollar figure on our labor. Motherhood isn't a favor and it's not a luxury. It's a job. The first 100 days are an opportunity to define our values. So let's start by valuing moms."

The women who signed onto the letter are as follows:

1. Toyin Ajayi, Cityblock Health
2. Katia Beauchamp, Birchbox
3. Katie Bethell, Paid Leave for the U.S.
4. Connie Britton, actor 
5. Jean Brownhill, Sweeten
6. Tarana Burke, "me too.'" Movement
7. Melissa Butler, The Lip Bar
8. Claudia Chan, S.H.E. Summit
9. Julia Collins, Planet FWD
10. Dr. Dara Kass, ER physician and professor
11. Tiffany Dufu, The Cru
12. Anu Duggal, Female Founders Fund
13. Sarah Eagle Heart, Eagle Heart Collective
14. Crystal Echo Hawk, Executive Director, IllumiNative
15. Sarah Sophie Flicker, artist and activist
16. Liuba Grechen Shirley, Vote Mama
17. Mindy Grossman, WW International, Inc.
18. Desiree Gruber, Full Picture
19. Sarah Harden, Hello Sunshine
20. Naomi Hirabayashi, Shine
21. Chelsea Hirschhorn, Frida Mom
22. Jennifer Hyman, Rent the Runway
23. Payal Kadakia, Classpass
24. Sallie Krawcheck, Ellevest
25. Maria Teresa Kumar, VotoLatino
26. Marisa Renee Lee, Beacon Advisors
27. Cindi Leive, The Meteor
28. Marah Lidey, Shine
29. Eva Longoria, actor
30. Alexis McGill Johnson, Planned Parenthood
31. Paola Mendoza, artist, filmmaker and activist
32. Alyssa Milano, actor
33. Julianne Moore, actor
34. Ana Ortiz, actor
35. Hitha Palepu, #5SmartReads
36. Dee Poku, The WIE Suite
37. Mónica Ramirez, activist and organizer
38. Geena Rocero, Transgender Advocate
39. Eve Rodsky, Author, Fair Play
40. Katherine Ryder, Maven
41. Reshma Saujani, Girls Who Code
42. Amy Schumer, actor
43. Rachel Sklar, TheLuckiest.com
44. Tabitha St. Bernard-Jacobs, Women's March Network
45. Amber Tamblyn, actor
46. Charlize Theron, actor
47. Salamishah Tillet, A Long Walk Home
48. Gabrielle Union, actor
49. Alexa von Tobel, Inspired Capital
50. Whitney Wolfe Herd, Bumble

For more information, visit MarshallpPlanForMoms.com.

The full text of the full page ad in The New York Times reads as follows:

Dear President Biden:

You know this well: moms are the bedrock of society. And we're tired of working for free.

We need a Marshall Plan for Moms – now.

Like the original Marshall Plan of 1948, this plan would be a financial investment in rebuilding from the ground up.

COVID has decimated so many of our careers. Two million of us have left the workforce, at a rate of four times that of men in September alone. Millions more have been forced to cut back our hours or work around the clock to keep our jobs and be full-time caregivers.

This is not an isolated incident – it is a national crisis. You didn't create this problem, but your administration has an opportunity to fix it. In your first 100 days, we're asking you to:

Establish a task force to create a Marshall Plan for Moms.

Implement a short-term monthly payment to moms depending on needs and resources.

Pass long overdue policies like paid family leave, affordable childcare and pay equity.

Sound crazy? It's not.

It's time to put a dollar figure on our labor. Motherhood isn't a favor and it's not a luxury. It's a job.

The first 100 days are an opportunity to define our values. So let's start by valuing moms.

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