The Caregiving Crises in New York is Strangling Economic Growth

 

Caregiving falls disproportionally on the shoulders of New York State women. In a new report from AARP New York, 66% of women say they are caregivers versus 34% of men and help with a wide range of daily living assistance from shopping to nursing tasks. An estimated 2.2 million New Yorkers are unpaid family caregivers.

 

In addition, women who work the same number of years as men and in the same role are consistently ending up with less — to the tune of an estimated $295,000, on average, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The figure reflects the costs to women’s earnings and retirement when they take time off to care for children or loved ones.

 

Motherly’s State of Motherhood 2023 Survey Report showed that 24% of mothers in the U.S. are stay-at-home moms, which is up 9% from 2022. The research found 52% of working moms say child care costs have made them think about leaving the workforce and 64% need flexible schedules to be able to work.

 

The proposals for childcare in Governor Hochul’s State of the State address were deeply disappointing. They did not come close to the scale of the need for the childcare workforce – which in turn will worsen the struggles of families who rely on them and cannot find care that meets their needs.

 

The COVID pandemic pushed the state's child care system into peril as many have closed their doors since 2020 and child care deserts have become more widespread, particularly in rural New York. Providers are feeling a tightening fiscal pinch without more funding for staff pay as one-time federal pandemic aid has dried up.

 

Of particular concern to New York, Gov. Hochul’s recent 2024 Budget does little the address the economic impact of the losses incurred when women are out of the workforce for caregiving or childcare.

 

New York is the most unequal state in the nation. A 2023 report from the Fiscal Policy Institute shows that ultra-rich New Yorkers (those with wealth over $30 million) hold a staggering $6.7 trillion in wealth. Meanwhile 8.2 million New Yorkers are poor and low-income. New York has a child poverty rate of 18.1% — higher than the national average, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. According to the Motherly report, 67% of working moms are paying at least $1,000 each month on child care.

 

The only place new money to invest in expanding childcare and homecare to meet the growing needs is from new taxes, which Gov. Hochul has taken off the table. But according to a new poll commissioned by Invest in Our New York Campaign, 74% of state residents believe taxes should go up for the highest 5% of earners. About the same percentage of respondents, and 72% of upstate residents, believe raising taxes on the rich should be the solution to address any state budget shortfall rather than cutting services, according to the poll.

 

Even the wealthiest agree. Nearly 270 millionaires and billionaires urged world leaders congregating in Switzerland for The World Economic Forum to tax their wealth, warning that if their elected representatives don't address the drastic rise in economic inequality, the consequences will be "catastrophic." "Inequality has reached a tipping point, and its cost to our economic, societal and ecological stability risk is severe -- and growing every day. In short, we need action now," the letter states, adding that philanthropy and one-off donations will not fix the issue.

 

The high cost of caregiving and childcare now falls squarely on the family. When the caregivers drop out of the workforce, we all suffer from the loss productivity and economic power of those missing wages.

 

Nations are less competitive when women take time off for caregiving: Economic output, workplace productivity and diversity improve when women are retained in the labor market. Researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis estimate the United States could add $1.7 trillion annually to the gross domestic product by addressing gender gaps in earnings, employment and hours worked.

 

If the Governor will not invest in these areas and look to new sources of revenue, the Assembly and the Senate must in their one-house budgets.