What I Want to Hear in President Biden’s State of the Union Address

It’s that time of the year when the President shares his vision for the country. Last year during the State of the Union (SOTU), President Biden spoke about working families and building families from the “bottom up and middle out, not the top down.” He outlined his economic agenda and spoke directly to the American people. 

During the 2024 SOTU address, I would like to hear President Biden reaffirm his commitment to working families. Working families are being squeezed by rising costs, stagnant wages, and inadequate work benefits. We have to work but work isn’t working for any of us. I want to hear the President clearly state his support and plan for ensuring families have more financial stability, key policy features being universal, comprehensive paid family and medical leave, paid sick and safe days legislation, and affordable childcare. We can not continue to work while sick without the necessary support in place to care for ourselves and our families. Parents cannot continue to send sick children to school because they have run out of paid time off at their places of employment. Workers, like me, cannot continue to risk our wages when our families need us to show up for short or long term caregiving. Additionally, I need to hear President Biden make a commitment to fund these policies. I also want to hear the President’s address another financial pressure point for families by committing to make child care affordable for all families. The US has one of the most costly child care systems in the world. Families are paying the equivalent of college tuition for childcare. 

During this SOTU, I hope the President makes working families a priority by committing to guarantee access to paid family and medical leave, paid sick and safe days, and affordable child care. Beyond lip service, I am listening for his plan to put political posturing aside and ensure families and workers win. Prioritizing these programs moves our nation a step closer toward achieving economic justice for everyone––regardless of employment status or job title.  

When we invest in paid family and medical leave we directly address gender, racial, and economic inequities, all of which are wins for families, workers, small businesses, and the U.S. economy.

by Josephine Kalipeni, FV@W Executive Director