What Can Be Done For Caregivers’ Retirement Security During COVID-19?

The economic downturn triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted millions of Americans. It has also illuminated the strain on caregivers, especially women.

Women have long shouldered an unequal burden of child-care responsibilities, and that trend has intensified during the pandemic. Women have also been disproportionately affected by job losses due to COVID-19, with mothers of young children three times more likely than fathers to have lost their jobs.

These job losses not only affect the finances of these caregivers in the short-term, but they also jeopardize their long-term retirement security. 

It is critical that our leaders come together to discuss solutions to public policy crises like these. 

Protecting Every Future is helping make that happen. An initiative of the American Council of Life Insurers, Protecting Every Future is a network of diverse people across the nation who support common sense policies that protect and strengthen the financial futures of all Americans. 

To stimulate dialogue about vital matters affecting American families, Protecting Every Future this week unveiled its Kitchen Table Conversation series. The initiative, launched during National Retirement Security Month, provides a platform for government, industry and policy leaders to come together and speak their minds about important financial security issues.

I was honored to moderate the conversation about the savings gap for caregivers, which featured U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.); Vivian Nava-Schellinger, Associate Director, Strategic Partnerships & External Affairs Program Committee Co-Chair, National Council on Aging; and Abigail Zapote, former executive director and current board member, Latinos for a Secure Retirement.

Sign up to watch the Kitchen Table Conversation series here.