5.8.21
Getting Women Back To Work Is Key To A Strong Recovery, Labor Secretary Says
The road to full economic recovery from the pandemic may be steeper than anticipated.
U.S. employers added 266,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department reported Friday. That’s far fewer than the nearly 1 million analysts expected given other recent signs of recovery: business reopening, consumer spending increasing, and new unemployment claims falling.
“Our economy is definitely recovering, but there are still millions of people in economic pain,” Labor Secretary Marty Walsh said in an interview with All Things Considered. “We still have issues around child care. We still have issues around vaccines. We still have issues around people getting the virus. So we still have a ways to go here.”
Child care problems and many kids still learning from home in part led millions of women to leave the workforce during the pandemic. Walsh said that’s a big concern for the Biden administration. The president’s proposed American Families Plan includes $225 billion for child care.
Click here to read full article written by Michel Martin via NPR.