Dozens of prominent men pledge support for direct payments to moms

As the Coronavirus pandemic raged across the globe, women were the worst affected. The public health crisis has slashed much of the progress made towards gender equality all over the world, and the United States is no exception. Mothers, in particular, have been deeply impacted. In light of this, the founder and CEO of Girls Who Code, Reshma Saujani, proposed the Marshall Plan for Moms. Among other directives, the proposal calls for direct unconditional cash transfers to mothers who remained at home during the pandemic and performed unpaid domestic work. Now, 50 prominent and influential men have signed a petition to bring the legislation into action, CNN reports.

Basketball star Steph Curry, politician Andrew Yang, and actor Don Cheadle were only three of the 50 men who signed the petition in support of the Marshall Plan for Moms. Notable others include former NFL player Victor Cruz, Craigslist founder Craig Newmark, and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. They submitted a letter to The Washington Post to express their support for the proposed legislation. The letter reads, "When more than 30 years of progress for women in the workforce can be erased in 9 months, the underlying system is broken. It's time to create a new structure that works for women, that respects and values their labor. Men have a role to play. As partners and fathers, we need to start doing our share at home. Studies show we are failing."

The main directive under the Marshall Plan for Moms is a stimulus check of $2,400, paid out every month, specifically for mothers. In addition to this, the legislation calls on President Joe Biden's administration to pass policies such as paid family leave and pay equity, reopen schools safely for five days a week, and implement retraining programs for women to return to work. A record number of women have exited the workforce since the pandemic first hit the United States. In January alone, women were down 5.4 million jobs from February 2020, right before the public health crisis first began. This number is particularly troubling due to its disproportionate dip in comparison to men's unemployment; they experienced 4.4 million job losses. Furthermore, the nation lost 140,000 jobs in December last year, and they were all held by women.

All in all, women ended the year 2020 holding 860,000 fewer jobs than their male peers. This is despite the fact that women held 50.3 percent of all jobs prior to the pandemic. Unfortunately, according to Saujani, it could take several decades to regain the progress the United States had made thus far if the government does not establish a comprehensive plan to ensure that women return to comprising 50 percent of labor market participation. "No woman made a choice to stay home and take of our children in this crisis, that choice was made for us," she said in an interview with CNN. "We are not America's social safety net. And as many of us have been essentially replacing paid labor for unpaid labor, and nobody asked us. They have put a zero value on our labor, and it's time to put a value on it."