Tax the Patriarchy: Investments to Advance Gender and Racial Justice

March 31, 2023

Issues: Federal Tax Policy, Poverty & Income Security, Taxes

While the tax code is progressive overall, loopholes and decades of unfair tax cuts have allowed the rich to get richer and left everyone else—especially women and people of color—behind. But it doesn’t have to be this way: we can fix the tax code so the wealthy and profitable corporations pay their fair share. For example, we could institute a wealth tax, change the way capital gains are taxed, and raise the corporate tax rate.¹ These proposals need to be carefully designed and coordinated. A fairer and more progressive tax code would reduce racial and gender wealth gaps, advance racial and gender equity, and raise revenues to invest in our shared priorities.

These proposals are estimated to raise billions of dollars over a 10-year period. The revenues raised from these (and other) tax policies should be invested in priorities that would advance gender and racial justice, help ensure the health, safety, and well-being of women and families, and make the economy work for women. For example:

Child Care: Investing $700 billion in child care over 10 years would help make sure that children between the ages of 0 and 13 can access high-quality care, child care providers are paid a living wage, and no family pays more than 7 percent of their income for child care.²

Expanded Child Tax Credit: Investing $185 billion in the Child Tax Credit would expand the credit for one year from $2,000 per child to $3,000 per child for children ages six through 17, and $3,600 per child for children under six. It also makes the credit fully refundable on a permanent basis.³

Home– and Community-Based Services: Continued investment of at $400 billion in HCBS over 10 years would create millions of new jobs, raise wages and improve working conditions for home-care workers, expand services and shorten waiting lists, and advance racial equity.⁴

Universal Paid Family and Medical Leave: An investment of at least $650 billion over 10 years would establish a national, comprehensive paid family and medical leave program that will guarantee twelve weeks of paid parental, caregiving, and personal medical leave and will replace at least two-thirds of worker’s average wages up to $4,000 a month.⁵

Fair Housing: A $290 billion investment in housing affordability would expand access to accessible and affordable housing and help close the racial wealth gap through the first-ever national investments in homeownership for first-time, first-generation homebuyers. This investment includes $100 billion for down payment assistance,⁶ $75 billion for rental assistance,⁷ $70 billion funding for public housing to maintain existing units, and $45 billion for the National Housing Trust Fund.⁸

Health Care: Investing $200 billion would permanently extend Medicaid-like health care coverage to low-income individuals—disproportionately people of color— states that have not expanded Medicaid.⁹

Baby Bonds: Investing money in savings accounts for children from low-income families would combat wealth inequality to benefit those who have historically been left out of wealth-building opportunities like homeownership and higher education. One proposal for “baby bonds” would cost $650 billion over 10 years and would generate economic opportunities and support the financial security of the most marginalized.¹⁰

Nutrition Assistance: Investing $35 billion in crucial nutrition programs over 10 years would provide millions more children with access to healthy meals at school and would expand children’s access to good nutrition during the summer.¹¹

Support for Students with Low Incomes: Investing $126 billion over 10 years would improve college affordability for low-income students by increasing access to Pell Grants and providing tuition assistance for students attending. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and minority-serving institution (MSIs).¹²

Fostering Safer Schools for Girls of Color: Investing $5 billion over 5 years would help end the harsh discipline, discrimination, and criminalization that girls of color face in school. This investment would strengthen data collection around school disciplinary actions and arrests, and it would establish federal grants to support states and schools that commit to banning discriminatory disciplinary practices.¹³

[1] Instituting a wealth tax could raise up to an estimated $ 3.3 trillion over ten years. Lily Batchelder and David Kamin, “Taxing the Rich: Issues and Options” (September 11, 2019), https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3452274, 13. Changing the way capital gains are taxed could raise $437 billion over ten years. Treasury Department, “General Explanations of the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2024 Revenue Proposals” (March 2023), https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/General-Explanations-FY2024.pdf, 214. Raising the corporate tax rate to 28% could raise $1.3 trillion over ten years. Treasury Department, “General Explanations of the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2024 Revenue Proposals” (March 2023), https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/General-Explanations-FY2024.pdf, 211. For more information on these policies and more revenue raising options, see our issue brief. Amy Matsui and Amy Royce, “Taxing the Rich Will Make the Tax Code More Equitable and Support Investments,” (April 2023), In Women and Families, https://nwlc.org/resource/taxing-the-rich-will-make-the-tax-code-more-equitable-and-support-investments-in-women-and-families/. For more information on taxing the rich in general, see our report on taxing wealth. Amy Matsui, Kathryn Menefee, and Amy Royce, “Advancing Gender and Racial Equity by Taxing Wealth” (April 2020), https://nwlc.org/resource/advancing-gender-and-racial-equity-by-taxing-wealth/.

[2] National Women’s Law Center, “Building a Comprehensive Child Care and Early Learning System: The Case for a $700 Billion Investment in Child Care Over the Next 10 Years” (April 2021), https://nwlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/700B-Justification-fact-sheet.pdf.

[3] Joint Committee on Taxation, “Estimated Budget Effects of the Revenue Provisions of the Title XIII – Committee on Ways and Means of H.R. 5376, The ‘Build Back Better Act’ as Passed by the House of Representatives: Fiscal Years 2022-2031” (November 9, 2021), https://www.jct.gov/publications/2021/jcx-46-21/.

[4] The White House, “Fact Sheet: The American Jobs Plan” (March 31, 2021), https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/03/31/fact-sheet-the-american-jobs-plan/; Special Committee on Aging, Chairman Bob Casey, and Committee on Finance, Chairman Ron Wyden, “A Historic Investment in the Care Economy: Expanding Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services” (May 2021), https://www.aging.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Final-%20HCBS%20factsheet%20May.pdf.

[5] Congressional Budget Office, “Budgetary Effects of H.R. 1185, the FAMILY Act” (February 13, 2020), https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2020-02/hr1185_2.pdf.

[6] Nikitra Bailey et al., National Fair Housing Alliance, Center for Responsible Lending, “First Generation: Criteria for a Targeted Down Payment Assistance Program” (May 21, 2021), https://nationalfairhousing.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/crl-nfha-first-generation-jun21.pdf, 4.

[7] Will Fischer and Erik Gartland, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, “Housing Vouchers in Economic Recovery Bill Would Sharply Cut Homelessness, House Instability” (September 23, 2021), https://www.cbpp.org/research/housing/housing-vouchers-in-economic-recovery-bill-would-sharply-cut-homelessness-housing.

[8] National Women’s Law Center, National Low Income Housing Coalition, “Gender and Racial Justice in Housing” (October 2021), https://nwlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/GenderRacialJusticeFSNLIHC_updated11-10-1.pdf.

[9] Office of Management and Budget, “Budget of the U.S. Government; Fiscal Year 2024” (2023), https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/budget_fy2024.pdf, 140.

[10] Corey Booker, “Booker, Pressley Reintroduce Bicameral “Baby Bonds” Legislation to Tackle Wealth Inequality,” February 15, 2023, https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press/booker-pressley-reintroduce-bicameral-baby-bonds-legislation-to-tackle-wealth-inequality; Committee for a Responsible Budget, “Cory Booker’s ‘Baby Bonds’ Plan” December 18, 2019, https://www.crfb.org/blogs/cory-bookers-baby-bonds-plan.

[11]Zoe Neuberger, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, “Nutrition Provisions in New House Build Back Better Legislation Could Substantially Reduce Children’s Food Hardship” (November 5, 2021), https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/nutrition-provisions-in-new-house-build-back-better-legislation-could#_ftn2.

[12] Office of Management and Budget, “Budget of the U.S. Government; Fiscal Year 2024” (2023), https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/budget_fy2024.pdf, 141.

[13] Ending PUSHOUT Act of 2021, H.R. 2248, 117 Cong. (2021); National Women’s Law Center, “The Ending PUSHOUT Act: Fostering Safe, Supportive, and Inclusive Schools for Girls of Color” (November 2021), https://nwlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Ending-Pushout-FS.pdf.

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Tax the Patriarchy: Investments to Advance Gender and Racial Justice