Economic Opportunity, Health and Education, News

Ask WREN: What is the American Rescue Plan?

by Chloe Holowczenko, WREN Policy and Programs Assistant on Mar 23, 2021

When creating policies designed to address pandemic relief, women, especially women of color, need to be prioritized. Women are disproportionally impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and women of color have been hit the hardest. More than 2.3 million women have dropped out of the labor force since February 2020.  

If women continue to remain out of the workforce at the same levels as last spring for a year, it will cost the country $64.5 billion. A Census Bureau and Federal Reserve analysis found that 1 in 3 women not working in July cited childcare issues as the reason, and Pew found that mothers of children 12 and under were three times more likely than fathers to have lost work between February and August. Latina and Black women have been hit hardest, and women’s labor-force participation reached a 33-year low in January. Economists have dubbed this recession a “shecession.” 

 The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 addresses some of the key policies that women and their families need to come out of the pandemic stronger. 

What is it?

The $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package is a historic package for many reasons, but WREN reveres it because it does so much to target help where it is most needed.   

This comprehensive package includes vital emergency programs that our families, hospitals, small businesses, and local economies need right now, including: an extension of unemployment benefits; a childcare stabilization fund; direct payments, including for some mixed status families; critical expansions of the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit; aid to state, local, territory, and tribal governments; funding to support a scaled-up and equitable distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine; protections from evictions and utility shut-offs; and increased funds for SNAP, school meals, and other nutrition programs that are in unprecedented demand.  

Highlights 

While there are many components to the policy we want to highlight: 

Medicaid The bill would make several changes to Medicaid financing and eligibility rules to increase access to coverage. 

Estimated Number of Children Who Would Benefit From House Ways and Means Child Tax Credit Expansion 

 

 

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