President Biden’s FY 2025 Budget Advances Gender Equity and Equality
The President’s FY 2025 Budget includes critical policies for women and families across the country and around the world. It will give families more breathing room; support workers and strengthen the care economy; expand access to high-quality health care and improve health outcomes; prevent and address gender-based violence; and advance gender equality around the world. Here is a look at some highlights:
STRENGTHEN WORKING FAMILIES AND THE ECONOMY BY INVESTING IN CARE INFRASTRUCTURE
Lowers Child Care Costs for Hard-Working Families. The President is committed to providing relief to hard-working families. His Budget creates a historic new program under which working families with incomes up to $200,000 per year would be guaranteed affordable, high-quality child care from birth until kindergarten, with most families paying no more than $10 a day, and the lowest-income families paying nothing—providing a lifeline to the parents of more than 16 million children. The Budget also includes $8.5 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) which will help states expand child care assistance to serve over 2 million low-income children.
Provides National, Comprehensive Paid Family and Medical Leave. The vast majority of America’s workers do not have access to employer-provided paid family leave, including 73 percent of private sector workers. Among the lowest-paid workers, who are disproportionately women and workers of color, 94 percent lack access to paid family leave through their employers. The Budget proposes to establish a national, comprehensive paid family and medical leave program administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to ensure that all workers can take the time they need to bond with a new child; care for a seriously ill loved one; heal from their own serious illness; address circumstances arising from a loved one’s military deployment; find safety from domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking; or grieve the death of a loved one. The Budget also provides funding to the Department of Labor (DOL) for grants and technical assistance to support the development, improvement, and implementation of paid family and medical leave programs in States and localities.
Empowers, Protects, and Invests in Workers. Workers power America’s economic prosperity, building the economy from the middle out and bottom up. To ensure workers are treated with dignity and respect in the workplace and are paid the wages they’re owed, the Budget invests $2 billion in the Department of Labor’s worker protection agencies. The Budget also proposes funding for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to support implementation and enforcement of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and advancement of pay equity through the collection and analysis of employer pay data. Additionally, the Budget includes funding to strengthen the National Labor Relations Board’s capacity to enforce workers’ rights to organize and collectively bargain for better wages and working conditions.
Cuts Taxes for Families with Children and American Workers. The Budget restores the full Child Tax Credit expansion enacted in the American Rescue Plan, which helped cut child poverty nearly in half in 2021 to its lowest level in history. The Budget expands the credit from $2,000 per child to $3,000 per child for children six years old and above, and to $3,600 per child for children under six. In addition, the Budget permanently reforms the credit to make it fully refundable, so that it no longer excludes 18 million children in the lowest-income families from receiving the full credit, and allows families to receive monthly advance payments. In total, the Budget’s restoration of the full Child Tax Credit expansion would lift 3 million children out of poverty and cut taxes by an average of $2,600 for 39 million low- and middle-income families that include 66 million children. The President also calls on Congress to make permanent the American Rescue Plan’s Earned Income Tax Credit expansion for workers not raising children in their homes, which would boost the income of 19 million low-paid workers.
Invests in Caregiving for Military Families and Veterans. Caregivers play an important role in supporting the health and wellness of servicemembers, veterans, and their families. The Budget invests nearly $3 billion in stipend payments and support services to help empower family caregivers of eligible veterans. The Budget also includes resources for the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Exceptional Family Member Program, which provides a comprehensive, coordinated, multi-agency approach for community support, housing, medical, educational, and personnel services to military families with disabilities.
PROTECTS AND INCREASES ACCESS TO QUALITY, AFFORDABLE HEALTHCARE
Since taking office, the President has delivered the resources necessary to reduce Americans’ healthcare premiums and prescription drug costs; allow Medicare to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices and taken on Big Pharma; and created new efforts dedicated to closing gaps in women’s health research and preventing, detecting, and treating devastating diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.
But Congressional Republicans have a different vision. Despite this progress and the overwhelming popularity of these advancements, extreme Republicans in Congress have blocked efforts to lower health care costs, and they’re still trying to end the Affordable Care Act. If the extreme Republicans in Congress get their way, millions of families would face skyrocketing health care and prescriptions costs, and potentially lose their health care altogether.
And in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn nearly 50 years of precedent in Roe v. Wade, Republican elected officials are advancing and enforcing dangerous, extreme abortion bans that eliminate women’s ability to make their own decisions about their health, force women to travel hundreds of miles for care, and deny access to vital, evidence-based medical care. And Congressional Republicans have proposed three national abortion bans that would limit access to reproductive health care in every state in the country.
Advances Maternal Health and Health Equity. The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate among developed nations, and rates are disproportionately high for Black and American Indian and Alaska Native women. The Budget includes $376 million to support maternal mortality initiatives across the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The Budget provides $172 million to the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) for the Healthy Start Initiative, a program designed to improve health outcomes before, during, and after pregnancy and reduce disparities in rates of infant death and adverse perinatal outcomes. The Budget expands Medicaid maternal health support services during the pregnancy and postpartum period by incentivizing States to reimburse a broad range of providers including doulas, community health workers, peer support initiatives, and nurse home visiting programs. In addition, the Budget builds on the success of the more than 40 States, Washington D.C., and the U.S. British Virgin Islands, that extended Medicaid postpartum coverage by requiring all States to provide continuous Medicaid coverage for 12 months postpartum, eliminating gaps in health insurance at a critical time for all women. In addition, the Budget includes resources for HHS to launch a new initiative focused on maternal health and hypertension and directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to develop a pilot to provide maternal health care kits for veteran mothers.
Closes Research Gaps in Women’s Health. The President and the First Lady launched the first-ever White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research, recognizing that women have been understudied and underrepresented in health research for far too long. The Initiative is working across government to better integrate women’s health within the Federal research portfolio and catalyze significant private and philanthropic commitments to increase funding for women’s health research. The Administration proposes to transform the way the government funds women’s health research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including by creating a new nationwide network of centers of excellence and innovation in women’s health—and the Budget would double current funding for the Office of Research on Women’s Health at NIH.
Supports Women Veterans’ Healthcare. The Budget invests $13.7 billion for women veterans’ healthcare, including $1.1 billion toward women’s gender-specific care. More women are choosing VA healthcare than ever before, with women accounting for over 30 percent of the increase in enrolled veterans over the past five years. Investments support comprehensive specialty medical and surgical services for women veterans, improve maternal health outcomes, increase access to infertility counseling and assisted reproductive technology, and eliminate copayments for contraceptive coverage. The Budget also improves the safety of women veterans seeking healthcare at VA facilities by supporting implementation of the zero-tolerance policy for sexual harassment and assault.
EXPANDS PATHWAYS FOR ECONOMIC MOBILITY
Promotes Access to Credit. The Budget provides $325 million for the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund, a 20 percent increase since the President took office. This provides underserved and often low-income communities access to credit, capital, and financial support to grow businesses, increase affordable housing, and reinforce healthy neighborhood development. Research continually demonstrates that low-income communities, communities of color, and women have a harder time accessing capital from traditional financial institutions overall. Nearly 70% of CDFI customers are low-income persons, 59% are racial minorities, and 52% are women. To better address the shortage of long-term affordable credit for development projects in disadvantaged communities, the Budget also includes a $10 million subsidy for the CDFI Fund’s Bond Guarantee Program.
Supports Minority-Owned Business to Narrow Racial Wealth Gaps. The Budget increases the capacity of the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) by providing $80 million to bolster services provided to minority-owned, including women of color-owned, enterprises by expanding the Business Center program, funding Rural Business Centers, and supporting innovative initiatives to foster economic resiliency.
MAKING OUR COMMUNITIES SAFER AND ADDRESSING GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE
From the day he was sworn in, President Biden has taken bold action to reduce crime and make America’s communities safer. The President created the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention in American history, overseen by the Vice President, and has announced nearly 40 executive actions to keep guns out of dangerous hands. The Administration has also delivered the most funding ever for the bipartisan Violence Against Women Act to combat gender-based violence, in addition to issuing our nation’s first-ever National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence.
Prioritizes Efforts to End Gender-Based Violence. The Administration has prioritized funding for programs under the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA). These programs have seen funding increased by over 35 percent since 2021 and the Budget proposes further expansion to $800 million for programs under VAWA, including key investments in sexual assault services, transitional housing, and legal assistance for survivors. The Budget also makes clear the Administration’s priority to strongly support underserved and Tribal communities by providing $15 million for culturally-specific services, $5 million for underserved populations, $25 million to assist enforcement of Tribal special domestic violence jurisdiction under VAWA 2022’s expansions, $3 million to support Tribal Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys, and $10 million for a new special initiative to address Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP).
ADDRESSES PRESSING GLOBAL CHALLENGES
Strengthens Health Systems Globally. The Budget provides nearly $10 billion for Global Health Programs, which will increase support for global health programs, strengthening health systems and pandemic preparedness. The Budget fulfills the President’s commitment to the Seventh Replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria by providing $1.2 billion to match $1 for every $2 contributed by other donors. The Budget also provides more than $900 million for global health security, including $250 million for the Pandemic Fund. The Budget invests $30 million in new resources for the World Bank’s Global Financing Facility for Women, Children, and Adolescents, a contribution anticipated to leverage at least $210 million to strengthen health systems, and $20 million for the Administration’s Global Health Worker Initiative to better train, equip, and protect the health workforce.
Bolsters Sustainable, Inclusive, and Democratic Global Development. The Budget supports the President’s goal to strengthen American development efforts through local expertise and by deploying a more expansive set of development tools. The Budget provides over $3 billion for bolstering global democracy, including $345 million for the President’s Initiative for Democratic Renewal to foster transparent and accountable governance. The Budget allocates more than $3 billion to advance gender equity and equality worldwide, including $200 million for the Gender Equity and Equality Action Fund. The Budget also includes $110 million in support of Internet freedom, including $50 million for the U.S. Agency for Global Media Open Technology Fund. The Budget provides $594 million, an increase of $37 million from 2023 levels, for high-impact and lifesaving voluntary family planning and reproductive health programs and America’s voluntary contribution to the United Nations Population Fund. The Budget continues America’s commitment to contributions for the United Nations.
