Joseph Robinette Biden

“ Discrimination leads to less innovation: one study found that innovation in the United States would quadruple if women, people of color, and children from low-income families invented at the same rate as other groups who are not held back by discrimination and structural barriers. Persistent inequities in access to R&D dollars and to careers in innovation industries prevents the U.S. economy from reaching its full potential. ”

“ Gun violence alone kills almost 40,000 people annually and injures more than twice as many. It disproportionately impacts Black communities and other communities of color. An average of 53 women are shot and killed by an intimate partner every month. One analysis has found that gun violence causes $280 billion in economic loss annually. President Biden’s plan will invest $5 billion over 8 years in evidence-based community violence intervention programs that train at-risk individuals for jobs and provide other wraparound services to prevent violence and assist victims. ”

“ Invest in evidence-based community violence interventions that reduce violence and promote employment and economic development. Violence disrupts employment and prevents a community’s economic development. ”

“ Lack of access to child care makes it harder for parents to fully participate in the workforce, which still tends to have a disproportionate impact on mothers. These investments will provide safe, accessible, energy efficient, high-quality learning environments for providers to teach and care for children. Public investments in schools and childcare improve children’s outcomes—the foundation for future productivity gains. ”

“ As more Americans rejoin the workforce or seek out new opportunities in a changing economy, we must ensure workers have ready access to the skills they will need to succeed, and improve racial and gender equity. ”

“ And, three-quarters of households living in public housing developments are female-headed, while the fastest-growing segment of the homeless population is women and families, with 84% of homeless families headed by single women. President Biden’s plan invests $213 billion to produce, preserve, and retrofit more than two million affordable and sustainable places to live, extending affordable housing opportunities to underserved communities nationwide. ”

“ President Biden’s plan will expand access to home and community-based services (HCBS) and extend the longstanding Money Follows the Person program that supports innovations in the delivery of long-term care.
Ensure caregivers can access good jobs. Caregivers – who are disproportionally women of color – have been underpaid and undervalued for far too long. Wages for essential home care workers, for example, are approximately $12 per hour, putting them among the lowest paid workers in our economy. ”

“ These conditions are dangerous for our kids and exist disproportionately in schools with a high percentage of low-income students and students of color. And even before COVID-19, 43% of parents reported struggling to find an adequate child care facility for their children. President Biden believes we can’t close the opportunity gap if low-income kids go to schools in buildings that undermine health and safety, while wealthier students get access to safe buildings with labs and technology that prepare them for the jobs of the future. ”

“ Create new career pathways for women. These investments also include the creation of career pathway programs in middle and high schools, prioritizing increased access to computer science and high-quality career and technical programs that connect underrepresented students to STEM and in-demand sectors through partnerships with both institutions of higher education and employers. ”

“ These strategies have been proven to reduce violence and will help rebuild economies in the hardest hit areas.
Deliver affordable housing to women of color and their families who are most burdened by the affordable housing crisis. Following decades of racially discriminatory federal housing policies, people of color are more likely to be rent burdened, or to live in sub-standard housing. ”

“ Protect the health, safety and rights of working women. This includes jobs with fair and equal pay, safe and healthy workplaces, and workplaces free from racial, gender, and other forms of discrimination and harassment. ”

“ This includes registered apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships, creating one to two million new registered apprenticeships slots, and strengthening the pipeline for more women and people of color to access these opportunities through successful pre-apprenticeship programs, such as through the Women in Apprenticeship and Non-Traditional Occupations grants that help to expand pathways for women to enter and lead in all industries. ”

“ In addition to a $10 billion investment in enforcement as part of the plan’s workforce proposals, the President is calling for increased penalties when employers violate workplace safety and health rules. ”

“ These funds will first go toward making sure our schools are safe and healthy places of learning for our kids and workplaces for teachers and other education professionals, for example by improving indoor air quality and ventilation. Too many students attend schools and child care centers that are run-down, unsafe, and pose health risks. ”