Angela Garbes
Appearances
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
TDS Time Machine | Mother's Day
This is so many, you know, we talk about this care crisis that was exposed in the pandemic, right? When child care centers and schools closed down, we were lost. People didn't know what to do. But many of us have always known that, you know, until your child is age six, in America, you're really on your own.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
TDS Time Machine | Mother's Day
And there are many people who are choosing between should I put my child in daycare or should I work because it's really about the same amount of money. Right. Right. But so studies have been done. So Oxfam has a study that if women in America were paid minimum wage for the amount of domestic labor that they do unpaid right now, it would be worth $1.9 trillion per year. Wow.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
TDS Time Machine | Mother's Day
So talk about putting a value on that. That is part of our economy. And that's a thing that we just have not reckoned with in this country. Our country, American capitalism relies just as much on the labor that happens in the home as any other labor that happens in the office or on a job site.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
TDS Time Machine | Mother's Day
Yes. When you invest. So I believe that raising children, you know, it's a choice that people make to have kids or to not have kids. And I think we should all. Unfortunately, this is not guaranteed in our country.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
TDS Time Machine | Mother's Day
We should all be allowed to make that choice for ourselves.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
TDS Time Machine | Mother's Day
But whether or not you have children, you know, raising kids is a social responsibility. And when we invest like no one gets to adulthood without someone taking care of them. And that's their parents, it's also beloved aunties, it's a preschool teacher, it's a teacher, right? There's so many people who are a part of that.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
TDS Time Machine | Mother's Day
And when we invest in children and families and mothers, it's investing in public health. It's investing in the very future and health of our society.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
TDS Time Machine | Mother's Day
I'm glad that you see that. We share a vibe.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
TDS Time Machine | Mother's Day
Sure. I mean, I wrote this book You know, part of it came out of the grief and loss that I felt at the start of the pandemic. As a writer, I had sort of nebulous deadlines, and I didn't get a regular paycheck or health insurance. But my husband's job gave us that. So I basically stopped writing. And because childcare centers closed, I was taking care of my kids.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
TDS Time Machine | Mother's Day
And I knew that that was the most important work I could be doing. But it also... I felt like I wasn't getting any recognition for it. We were hearing about essential workers, healthcare workers, sanitation workers who are, yes, essential, but we were never hearing about parents who were working 24-7 trying to take care of their families, trying to keep communities safe.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
TDS Time Machine | Mother's Day
And that's really where this is what I know you understand is that Domestic work, mothering, we do it to ourselves every day, feeding ourselves, taking a shower. Without care work and domestic labor, you know, this is the work that makes all other work possible. The idea that domestic labor is somehow less valuable than quote-unquote professional work I just think it's a myth.