When I brought my then five-month-old son, Hodge, to the House floor during the vote for Speaker in January, I didn’t think twice about carrying him on my chest to soothe him and introduce him for the first time to my colleagues. But within minutes, my phone was dinging nonstop with people excited to see me and Hodge casting a vote on behalf of working parents on the House floor. To millions of Americans, we shed light on the role of working dads across the country, but we also unlocked something more.
The viral moment highlighted the double standard that exists in our country — when men bring their kids to work, they’re praised, but when women do it, they’re often criticized or seen as not committed to their job.
I knew then that I had to turn that viral moment into action on behalf of working parents everywhere. And so, a few weeks later, I launched the first-ever Congressional Dads Caucus with a very simple premise: dads need to do our part — both at home with our kids, and in the halls of Congress voting for policies that uplift working families.
Since then, our 30-member strong caucus, which includes the founder of the Mamas Caucus, has met with legislative leaders on issues affecting working parents, hundreds of advocates, and people from across the country fighting for working families.
And so, on this Father’s Day, I believe it’s time for dads to turn this day of celebration into a commitment to action. For far too long, men have left the largest share of care work to women, both at home taking care of our families (according to the Labor Department, women perform most caregiving in America), and in our government fighting for family-friendly policies.
It’s critical to acknowledge that these problems affect all parents and not just families’ economic success and stability, but our country’s as well.
This week, the Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and I hosted a roundtable with members of the Dads Caucus, local dads, and leading advocates to discuss issues affecting working families in the United States. We heard from Rodrigo Stein and Andrew Clough, two dads with newborns, who centered our discussion on the critical importance of having a national paid family and medical leave program, affordable child care, and reducing poverty.
We know that the lack of paid family and medical leave, financial resources, and affordable child care disproportionately affects women and too often is a driving factor in them leaving the workforce at a much higher rate than men. Lack of these important resources also contributes to our country’s persistent wage gap, and solving these issues can help address it. Research from Rutgers University found that those who were able to take paid leave for a month or longer had a 54 percent higher chance of receiving a pay increase in the year after having a child than women who were unable to take leave.
In order to create change, dads must do more to join the generations of women who have shouldered this responsibility.
For instance, in 2021, Congress expanded the Child Tax Credit, made it refundable, and instituted monthly payments to millions of American households, which represented the largest investment in working families in generations and lifted nearly 4 million children out of poverty. However, since Congress let this temporary lifeline for working families expire, we have missed an opportunity to continue one of the most effective poverty-fighting measures in recent memory. Dads can and should play a crucial role in putting the pressure on Congress to renew the expanded, fully refundable Child Tax Credit, allow monthly payments and make it permanent.
And then there’s the issue of affordable child care. As any parent knows, child care can quickly become a family’s top expense — $1,412 a month on average for caring for an infant in California, according to the Economic Policy Institute. As a result, one parent, often a mother, is forced to choose between going to work or staying home to fulfill the family’s child care obligations. This year, a report found that 52 percent of Millennial and Gen Z mothers who have left the job market would need affordable childcare to be able to return to work.
These policy decisions don’t just impact families, they impact our entire economy. Congress needs to take action to pass policies that will make high-quality child care more affordable and accessible for all because our nation’s economic competitiveness, financial well-being, and very future starts at home.
So this Father’s Day, let us enjoy our time with our children and honor them by using our voices, our votes, and our energy to fight for policies that will better their lives.
Jimmy Gomez represents California’s 34th District and is founder and chair of the Congressional Dads Caucus.