Care Workers Recognition Month, 2023

Proclamation 10540 of March 31, 2023

Care Workers Recognition Month, 2023

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Across America, care workers help raise our children,
assist seniors as they age with dignity, and support
people with disabilities--giving families peace of mind
and making it possible for millions of Americans to
earn a paycheck while their loved ones are safe and
secure. These unsung heroes strengthen our communities
and form the backbone of our Nation's economy. This
month, we honor their extraordinary contributions and
commit to supporting them with better pay, better
benefits, and the recognition they have long deserved.

Despite all they give to this country, care workers--
including child care workers, home care workers, and
long-term care workers--are among the lowest-paid
workers in America. Some juggle multiple jobs, and many
leave the profession altogether in search of better
options. The vast majority of care workers are women,
and a disproportionate share are people of color, so
this chronic underpayment deepens gender and racial
wealth gaps. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many care
workers were forced to put themselves and their
families at risk, just to do their jobs. And the care
workforce continues to recover slowly, making it hard
for families to find care. This leads to hundreds of
billions in lost wages each year and only heightens the
obligation placed on the Nation's more than 50 million
family caregivers.

As many have said, care is the work that makes all
other work possible. That is why my Administration
invested over $39 billion from our American Rescue Plan
to help child care providers keep their doors open and
to provide child care workers with higher pay, bonuses,
and other benefits--reducing turnover and attracting
new staff. To date, these efforts have helped 220,000
child care programs, which employ more than 1 million
child care workers and have the capacity to serve 9.6
million children. At the height of the pandemic, we
delivered financial relief to nearly 300,000 child care
workers through our expanded earned income tax credit.
We know we must do more, so my most recent budget
proposes investing $600 billion over 10 years to expand
access to high-quality child care and free, high-
quality preschool. This funding will allow States to
increase pay for child care workers while helping the
families of more than 16 million children afford child
care.

Meanwhile, we are promoting the use of apprenticeship
programs and partnering with employers, unions, and
others to recruit, train, and keep long-term care
workers on the job while also helping them advance
their careers as registered and licensed nurses. My
Budget calls on the Congress to invest $150 billion
over the next decade to improve and expand Medicaid
home- and community-based services--making it easier
for seniors and people with disabilities to receive
care in their own homes. This funding would improve the
quality of jobs for home care workers and support
family caregivers.

Our message this month to care workers across America
is simple: The work you do matters. You are there for
families when they need you most--providing comfort,
strength, and compassion that inspire us all. Your
devotion to the people and communities you serve
represents the best of America's

character, and we will always stand with you, ensuring
you are seen, valued, and rewarded fairly for the work
you do.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of
the United States of America, by virtue of the
authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws
of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 2023 as
Care Workers Recognition Month. I call upon all
Americans to celebrate the contributions of care
workers to our Nation with appropriate ceremonies,
activities, and programs.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
thirty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord two
thousand twenty-three, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
seventh.