The MomsRising Education Fund (MREF) educates and engages people about the importance of advancing family economic security and ending discrimination in the US.

Our movement building is focused on lifting vulnerable women and families. The policies we work on every day, and that our volunteers consistently prioritize -- like paid family/medical leave; an end to racial profiling, mass incarceration and police brutality; advancing earned sick days, fair pay, childcare, healthcare, fair taxing, raising the minimum wage, a balanced budget, fair immigration policy, as well as gun safety reform, and more -- aren’t separate silos; instead, together they are critical components of closing the opportunity gap.

Why is this happening? Women are 50% of the labor force for the first time in history--and 3/4 of all moms are either the primary or co-breadwinner. Our labor force has changed, but our public policies haven’t caught up. Because of this, being a mom is now a greater predictor of wage and hiring discrimination than gender—and over 80% of women become moms, so most women hit this wall. Women of color experience an amplified impact.

This lack of family economic security policies causes serious financial problems with rippling negative consequences to our families, businesses, and economy. Nearly a quarter of young families are living in poverty and 1 in 5 children in our nation don't get enough nutritious food to eat because of family budget limitations. On the other hand, lifting families lifts us all, particularly because our economy is now based on consumer-spending and women make most of those decisions.

Stopping structural racism in the criminal justice system is also a key priority in addition to advancing economic security for families. No mother should have to fear a child could be harmed at the hands of those charged with protection. The US has the highest incarceration rate in the world, with women/moms the fastest growing population. This has to stop.

The good news is that solutions are possible. Studies show that when policies relating to fair pay, childcare, ending mass incarceration, paid family/medical leave, healthcare, sick days, access to healthy food, racial equity, fair treatment of immigrant families, and more pass; then we all win.

These are the policies that are at the core of the MomsRising Education Fund mission.