Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by Director Jennifer Klein at Mother’s Day Event

Thank you, Kristin, for the award, which I am honored to accept on behalf of the President and this Administration.  I’ll make sure to keep my acceptance speech short.

I want to start by thanking Carol, Uma, Julie, Akilah, and Destin for that fantastic panel.  And thank you to everyone for being here. 

My name is Jennifer Klein, and I am Assistant to the President and Director of the Gender Policy Council.

We are so delighted to be celebrating Mother’s Day here at the White House with you all – we know it was technically yesterday, but we are committed to celebrating mothers every day of the year.

Because we know that across the country, mothers are raising their children, caring for their families—and making history.

Mothers are leaders in every field —

they are construction workers, health care heroes, service members, and public servants; and 

they are artists, journalists, engineers, and scientists. 

We just heard from—and will hear from more—mothers whose voices represent so many across the country. 

And I would like to take a moment to share a piece of my own story.

In addition to being Director of the Gender Policy Council, I am also “Mom” to Jacob, Ben, and Zach.

My first experience working in the White House coincided with my first experience as a working mother.  As part of then-First Lady Hillary Clinton’s office, I helped plan the first-ever White House Conference on Child Care.  We convened experts, reviewed the cutting-edge literature, heard from communities, and ultimately honed in on the most pressing issues we faced: the availability and affordability of child care.

All this was happening at the same moment I was figuring out for myself how to juggle work and raise a child.

But I was also one of the incredibly lucky ones.  Secretary Clinton, my boss, advocated for me to not only have generous parental leave after my child was born, but also the first part-time position in the White House for when I returned.

Both of us were acutely aware of this good fortune—that most working moms did not—and still do not—have adequate support in their jobs, at home, and in their communities for the many different responsibilities they bear.  We knew back then in the nineties that we needed better, more accessible, and more affordable care—and that need persists today.

I’m proud to work for an Administration that recognizes how supporting mothers and addressing the challenges they face is good for women and families and—also that these are core economic issues.

Over the past three years, the work of this Administration has focused on:

Investing in women’s health;

Investing in the care economy; and

Ensuring women’s economic security.

I would like to touch on just some of our work that we are proud to have accomplished over the past three years—some of which Kristin just highlighted.

First, health—

As you will hear more about later, under the leadership of our Vice President, we are working to implement the Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis—including by taking action to extend Medicaid postpartum coverage and support maternal mental health. And we are fighting for reproductive freedom—because this Administration believes that women in every state should have the right to choose if and when they become a mother.

We are lowering health care costs for millions of women and working families. Thanks to the American Rescue Plan and Inflation Reduction Act, millions of people with Affordable Care Act coverage are saving an average of $800 per year on health insurance premiums. And the President took on Big Pharma to lower caps on costs for covered insulin to $35 per month for people with Medicare, cap out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for Medicare enrollees at $2,000 annually in 2025, and negotiate the prices of prescription drugs for the first time. This will help women with Medicare save money on the drugs they need—from treatment for cancer to asthma to autoimmune diseases.

Finally, the President and the First Lady launched the first-ever White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research—which aims to fundamentally change how we approach and fund women’s health research across the lifespan.  This Initiative will close disparities in research, pioneer the next generation of discoveries, and get women the answers they deserve about their health.

Second, the care economy—

President Biden and Vice President Harris are fighting to increase wages for child care workers, lower costs for families, and increase the supply of high-quality care.

Under the President’s leadership, the Administration invested over $60 billion in the care economy through the American Rescue Plan.  This funding helped keep 225,000 child care centers open, ensuring care for 10 million children—and enabling hundreds of thousands of mothers with young children to enter or re-enter the workforce.

And we just commemorated one year since the President issued an historic and sweeping executive order that directed agencies to increase access to high-quality affordable care and support care workers and care givers.  As just one example of the work that the Administration is doing in response to the President’s directives, we recently announced a rule that will lower child care costs for more than 100,000 families.

Third, economic security— 

Since the beginning of the Administration, the President has underscored that we cannot have the strongest economy in the world if we leave women—half of our workforce behind.  Under the President’s leadership, women’s labor force participation is the highest it has ever been—and the gender pay gap is the narrowest it has ever been on record. 

In the last three years, our Administration has—

expanded the Child Tax Credit and reduced child poverty to a record low;

lowered monthly student loan payments for millions of borrowers;

increased Small Business Administration-backed loans to women-owned small businesses by more than 60%;

implemented critical protections for women in the workplace, including the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act;

and committed to ensuring women, people of color, and other underrepresented communities have equitable access to the millions of good-paying jobs being created through the President’s Investing in America agenda. As one example, Secretary Raimondo announced the Million Women in Construction Initiative, which aims to expand the American construction workforce by doubling the number of women in construction over the next decade. 

We also know—notwithstanding all this historic progress—that we have more to do.

The President’s most recent Budget includes proposals for—

National paid family and medical leave;

Guaranteed affordable high-quality child care from birth until kindergarten;

Investments in maternal health initiatives and women veterans’ healthcare;

Increased wages for early childhood education workers; and

Improved and expanded Medicaid home care services.

The President envisions a future where these important programs are part of our social fabric – supporting American families. 

Thank you to each of you who share this vision, even as you work tirelessly every day for your children, your families, and your communities.

Happy Mother’s Day!

And with that, I’ll pass it to my friend and partner in the Office of the Vice President, Kristine Lucius.