Care Economy Business Council FAQs
Who is eligible to join the Care Economy Business Council?
We are assembling an incredible coalition of companies – spanning all industries – to push for caregiving solutions at this critical moment.
The Council is open to large corporations, small businesses, and entrepreneurs who are committed to modeling or implementing best practices to support caregivers in their workforce, advocating for key public policy interventions, and rallying investment in innovative care solutions.
Why should businesses care about caregiving?
When employees don’t get the support they need for their caregiving responsibilities, employers pay the hidden costs, including turnover, rehiring, presenteeism, and absenteeism.
Caregivers make up the backbone of our economy, yet our workplaces are not built to support them: one third of all U.S. employees – of employees aged 26 to 35 – have left a job during their career in order to manage an unmet caregiving responsibility. Nearly 50% of companies reported lack of child care as an impediment to hiring or calling back workers during the pandemic. And the costs associated with turnover alone can run as high as 213% of an employee’s salary.
What are you advocating for?
Working alongside a coalition of advocacy partners, the Council’s central goal is to ensure that all Americans can access vital caregiver benefits, irrespective of their employers’ ability to provide them. That means:
- All workers have access to a baseline of federally-funded family and medical leave as well as safe, quality, affordable child care and elder care; and
- The caregiving profession is elevated to ensure dignified work and living wages.
What are the benefits of joining the Council?
By joining the Council, you will enter TIME’S UP’s network of experts, and a community of business leaders and companies dedicated to solving our nation’s care challenges. The Council will convene for briefings and events with top policy makers in the Administration and Congress, as well as with other thought leaders with expertise in these issues. There will be opportunities to pool influence, participate in a community of practice, act on new investment opportunities, and publicize your commitment to this critical issue.
In addition, Council Members will gain access to:
- Media Toolkits that include social graphics, website copy, and talking points for op-eds, interviews, etc.
- Policy Toolkits that include primers on the caregiving crisis and public policy solutions that can address it – now and over the long term
- Access to Regular Policy Briefings and leading national policymakers
- Invitations to all Council Events and opportunities to be featured publicly in association with the Council
- Guidance from private sector experts on how to build more equitable workplaces
Do you have to pay to join the Council?
There is no financial obligation associated with the Council.
How is this affiliated with TIME’S UP?
Caregiving is inextricably linked to Time’s Up’s fight for safety and equity at work. Creating workplaces where sexual harassment does not happen in the first place requires upending the power imbalances that currently exist, and truly building inclusive workplaces, up and down the wage scale. That means addressing the structural barriers, including gendered norms around caregiving, keeping women and other workers from succeeding, and staying, in the workforce.