Better Jobs = Better Care: Opportunities & Strategies to support Care Cooperatives

The COVID pandemic highlighted the critical role caregiving (including childcare and home care) has played in supporting not only individual families’ needs but also our broader economy. Yet around 5.7 million paid caregivers, predominantly women of color, work in low-paying care sector jobs which provide limited benefits, insufficient training, limited opportunities for career growth and wealth building. In fact, 20% of care sector workers live in poverty and 40% rely on public assistance.

With an unprecedented increase in the nation’s elderly population and ongoing need for affordable quality childcare, we must identify, support and invest in solutions that not only support caregivers’ economic security but also provide quality care for our loved ones. Care cooperatives, owned and governed by caregivers, are uniquely positioned to accomplish this. With the right kind of supports, worker-owned cooperatives have improved working conditions and outcomes, increased recruitment and retention, and created business stability and sustainability.

Join Asset Funders Network to:

• Explore care cooperative models which are providing quality jobs and quality care in both child care and home care sectors;
• Delve into the ecosystem needed to further support the development, growth and sustainability of the cooperative care sector; and
• Elevate philanthropic investment strategies which ultimately support the longer-term economic health & well-being of caregivers and ultimately our broader society.