Care Work is Essential Work

Today, we are excited to share the launch of The Care for All with Respect and Equity (CARE) Fund, a $50 million, multi-year collaboration among eight philanthropic institutions to ensure a sustained care infrastructure that works for everyone. 

We are in a critical moment when care work is receiving the recognition it deserves. As the COVID-19 pandemic has painfully reminded us, we must see care work as essential work, vital for our livelihood and for families, communities and the economy to thrive. For this to happen, we need bold, transformational change to build a comprehensive care infrastructure that is long-term, intergenerational and inclusive.

To that end, we are proud to join with partners at Ford Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Heising-Simons Foundation, the Perigee Fund, Pivotal Ventures and Open Society Foundations to support the important work being led by many in the field, including our grantees. With this scale of investment, The CARE Fund will help to expand and align resources to address a wide range of critical issues, from workers’ rights to early childhood care to greater economic equity, to name a few.

At Schusterman, our focus is on changing national policies and industry-level practices to support caregivers and care workers with the better pay and benefits they deserve, from paid leave to more choices in childcare. For too long, women—particularly Black women and women of color—and low-wage workers of all races have had to bear the burden of an economy that unfairly advances some at the expense of too many.

As our Chair Stacy Schusterman notes, “We cannot achieve racial, gender and economic justice without changing our policies and business practices to support caregivers and care workers. The CARE Fund will push forward a vision of care work as deserving of greater recognition and financial support from businesses and our government.”

The work has already begun. With $2.5 million in grants already invested in essential non-profits in the field, we are only beginning to see what is possible.

Learn more in the official announcement and on The Care Fund’s website.