Care work is more valuable than ever (with Kate Bahn)

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: The episode examines the U.S. child care crisis, intensified by COVID-19 but rooted in long-standing market failure, gender inequality, and underinvestment. Guest Kate Bond argues caregiving is a public good that markets undervalue, and that solutions require public funding, worker power, anti-discrimination measures, and cultural change. The hosts emphasize child care as essential infrastructure and a prerequisite for economic recovery.

Main Topics: Child care as a crisis before and during COVID-19: The conversation frames the pandemic as exposing and worsening an already fragile child care system that left many families unable to work or find care. Why caregiving is undervalued economically: Kate Bond explains that mainstream economics struggles to measure the long-term benefits of care work, and that work associated with women is systematically devalued. Gender, race, and labor market inequality: The episode links child care burdens to unequal labor market outcomes for women, mothers, and people of color, including disproportionate unpaid care labor. Policy solutions and public investment: The speakers discuss paid leave, publicly funded child care, wage increases for care workers, and using child care as infrastructure with public support. Worker bargaining power and labor organizing: Bond argues that stronger unions and worker bargaining power are needed so care workers can secure better pay, benefits, and flexibility. Child care as economic infrastructure: Nick Hanauer and Jessen Farrell argue that child care should be treated like transportation or water infrastructure because it enables the broader economy. Political will and cultural change: The episode concludes that money exists to solve the problem, but policy change depends on political will and a shift in how society values care.

Key Arguments: Caregiving is a foundational public good, not a private inconvenience, and the economy depends on it. Child care is least accessible to those who need it most, especially single mothers, low-income families, and working parents. Women’s unpaid care burden is much higher than men’s, and the pandemic amplified that gap. Mainstream economics undervalues care because its benefits are long-term, hard to measure, and often associated with women. Public child care is economically rational because it supports labor force participation, child development, and long-term earnings. Better policy must combine public funding, labor protections, anti-discrimination efforts, and incentives for men to share caregiving. Worker organizing and higher bargaining power are essential to raise child care worker pay and job quality. The U.S. can afford a better child care system; the obstacle is political will, not economic capacity.

Data Points: Workers with kids under 18: 41 million - Audience affected by the child care crisis during the pandemic Unpaid household work by women with caregiving duties: 35 hours/week before the crisis; 65 hours/week during the crisis - Illustrates the surge in unpaid care labor for women Unpaid household work by men with caregiving duties: 25 hours/week before the crisis; 50 hours/week during the crisis - Shows increased care labor for men, though still below women’s levels Lifetime earnings impact of one year of quality K–12 education: Almost $500,000 - Used to argue that caregiving and education have measurable long-term economic value Estimated annual cost of a first-class child care system: About $100 billion per year - Hanauer’s estimate of what a national child care system might cost Corporate stock buybacks: $800 billion last year - Used to show that the economy has the money to fund child care Child care worker pay: About $12 per hour - Represents the low wages currently paid to many child care workers Teacher pay: About $50,000 per year - Used as a comparison for care sector compensation Potential child care facility closures: 40% expected to close - Referenced as a risk without major policy intervention Paid leave status in the U.S.: No paid leave time off for maternal leave - Compared unfavorably to other developed countries

Pivotal Quotes: "Caregiving always has been a type of function or phenomenon in our society that is the least successful exactly to the people who need it the most." — Nick Hanauer: Opening framing of the episode’s central problem "It’s not recognized as core to our economic policy priorities." — Kate Bond: Bond explaining why care work remains undervalued despite its importance "Caregiving is a central function to any society. It’s really the basis of all of our well-being in society." — Kate Bond: Bond’s summary of why child care should be treated as a public priority

Implications: The episode argues that child care recovery requires public investment, higher wages for care workers, and stronger worker power. Without structural reform, families—especially women—will continue bearing the costs of a system the economy relies on but fails to support.