由于学校和托儿所的关闭，有几乎800万美国人失业

据美国人口普查周三公布的数据显示，近900万人表示，他们本月失业是因为不得不留在家里照顾不上学的孩子或老人。报告显示，自5月初以来，因照顾家庭而无法工作的人数增加了110万，这凸显了照顾家庭的负担对经济造成的拖累，尤其是对妇女和有色人种的拖累——由于没有地方可以送孩子，他们是最有可能退出劳动力市场，承担家庭护理责任的人群。实际上，有研究表明，在COVID-19爆发之前，托儿所高昂的费用就伤害到了妇女的就业。去年穆迪分析公司的一项分析估计，通过让更多的女性工作，能在未来十年内为美国国内生产总值增加7020亿美元。

而由于病毒在全美各地的养老院里肆虐，这场大流行也让美国家庭重新思考起了老年人护理的问题。美国进步中心的丽贝卡-科克利说，上门医疗服务的等待名单已经超过了80万人，如果没有外界的帮助，积压问题不会得到解决。同样的，当无法获得医疗服务时，女性更有可能成为提供家庭护理的一方。在大流行之前，人们估计到2026年将需要420万个工作岗位来填补家庭护理的缺口。但科克利表示，她认为这个数字会大大增加，因为现在的年轻人们看到了COVID-19的现状后，不会再想去养老院。

民主党总统候选人乔-拜登在周二概述的一项价值7750亿美元的10年计划或许能解决这个问题。拜登表示，该计划旨在为数百万人提供负担得起的护理选择。经济政策研究所的高级经济学家伊利斯-古尔德说："我认为它可以被视为一项基础设施投资。"该研究所估计，拜登的计划将帮助300万因高昂的儿童和老年人护理费用而不得不选择在家照顾的工人重返劳动力市场。但是，特朗普的竞选团队对此持反对意见，他们声称该计划给其他美国人造成了更大的税收负担。

Almost 9 million said they are out of work this month because they had to stay home to care for a child not in school or an elderly person, according a U.S. Census data released Wednesday.  The report, which shows a 1.1 million increase in people not working because of home-care burdens since the beginning of May, highlights the drag on the economy that the lack of affordable care for children and the elderly has, particularly on women and people of color. The new data comes on the heels of a $775 billion, 10-year plan outlined Tuesday by Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, that he says would provide affordable options for millions of those workers. “I think it can be seen as an infrastructure investment,” said Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, which estimates Biden’s plan could allow 3 million people who have been sidelined by the costs of child and elder care to return to the workforce. President Donald Trump’s campaign criticized the plan because it added a greater tax burden on other Americans.

Without anywhere to send their children, women and people of color are most likely to drop out of the workforce, and since the pandemic began, those groups have taken the biggest employment hits.  But even before Covid-19 lockdowns, the high cost of child care and lack of availability hurt women’s employment and the economy, studies have found. When Elizabeth Warren released her universal childcare plan last year, an analysis by Moody Analytics estimated it would add $702 billion to the U.S. gross domestic product in its first 10 years by allowing more people — mostly women — to work. The pandemic has also made families rethink elder care, as the virus has ravaged long-term care facilities across the country. While more people would prefer help at home, Medicaid’s waitlist for in-home services is more than 800,000, said Rebecca Cokley, director of the Center for American Progress Disability Justice Initiative. Again, when help isn’t available, women are more likely to provide care. Without investment and support, the backlog won’t be solved, Cokley said. Before the pandemic, an estimated 4.2 million jobs were going to be needed to fill home care roles by 2026. “But I actually think the numbers are going to be significantly higher,” Cokley said. “Baby Boomers are not going to want to go into nursing homes after watching what’s happened with Covid.”  source

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