I need the ERA because…paid care is a right – gender equality and the care economy

For more than a century, feminists have realized that omitting sex discrimination from the Constitution presents a major barrier to achieving true gender equality in the United States. However, the effort to ensure legal equality within the US wages on.

In the US, norms and stereotypes about women’s caregiving are perpetuated by a lack of legal equality on the basis of sex or gender, including without the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in the Constitution, too often resulting in discrimination in terms of equal pay, family leave, and positions within the formal labor market.

The United States must recognize and provide resources and tax regimes that support those who provide and receive care, taking a substantive equality or human rights-based and feminist approach to make work and family care needs compatible.

As part of our I Need the ERA because… campaign, we also take a closer look at how the ERA would grant the legislative branch clear constitutional authority to enact positive protections such as the right to receive and provide care and laws that provide social protections for long-term care and health.

Update:

In January 2025, former US President Biden declared the Equal Rights Amendment the “law of the land” and the 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Until then, the Constitution did not explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, in stark contrast to the vast majority of UN Member States (85%), whose constitutions prohibit such discrimination. However, since the change in administration, the White House has archived Biden’s declaration, and opponents argue his action was legally meaningless. Thus, constitutional equality in the US remains precarious, underscoring the urgent need for the ERA’s universal recognition and implementation.