President Joe Biden has signed an executive order containing more than 50 directives to increase access to child care and improve the work life of caregivers.

"Thank you to care workers and family caregivers for doing God's work taking care of our children, our parents and those we love so dearly," Biden said from the White House's Rose Garden on Tusday afternoon. "We're here today to action on an issue that is fundamental to who we are as a nation, who we are as a country." 

Biden was joined by Kezia Rodriguez, a New Jersey mother and nursing student, who spoke of how the $39 billion in temporary child care funding from the American Rescue Plan Act passed in 2021 helped her twin daughters be cared for while she pursed an associates degree at a community college.

"Now, though, while working towards my bachelor's in the science of nursing, we're in the same position as most families trying to find affordable care that is safe while juggling work and school obligations," Rodriguez said. "All you need to start a fire is a spark. My family was that spark and free child care was what allowed my fire to continue to burn."

"The greatest part is seeing the pride reflected on my daughter's faces," Rodriguez added, saying they wanted to be doctors "so they could work with mommy."

The directives would be funded out of existing commitments, Biden said. That likely means their impact would be limited and they'd carry more of a symbolic weight about what's possible. The Democratic president was far more ambitious in 2021 by calling to provide more than $425 billion to expand child care, improve its affordability and boost wages for caregivers.

The executive order signed Tuesday plans to lower costs for families that are part of the Child Care & Development Block Grant program. And the Department of Health and Human Services would raise pay and benefits for teachers and staff in the Head Start program, which provides funding to states to serve low-income students during their early education years.

It also seeks to improve the child care provided to the offspring of federal workers, including military families. And it intends to cut red tape at the Department of Veterans Affairs to give veterans in need of home care have more say in who their caregivers are.

"We've heard directly from veterans that this is one of the top priorties for them," Biden said.

Biden also has called for more money for the care economy in his 2024 budget plan, drawing a sharp line with Republicans, who are seeking limits on spending. On Tuesday, the president sharply criticized House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for his speech outlining his budget and debt ceiling strategy on Monday at the New York Stock Exchange.

"He didn't tell you the leading House Republican proposal would cut all the programs in discretionary spending by 22%. It would mean higher costs for child care, higher costs for preschool, higher costs for college, 200,000 children would lose access to Head Start slots. Even more were lose access to child care all together," Biden said, citing estimates from the Department of Health and Human Services based on the House Freedom Caucus' desire to cap fiscal year 2024 spending at fiscal year 2022 levels.

In his speech, McCarthy pledged a vote on the spending cap would come in a matter of weeks.

One goal of the directives the president ordered Tuesday is to combat the erosion of care workers, who Biden said leave the industry in droves.

"Half the long term care workforce, 20% of the child care workforce leave their jobs each year, making even harder, harder for families to find the help they need," Biden said. "And family members are too often forced to leave their own good jobs behind to stay home to be mom and dad."

"No one should have to choose between caring for the parents who raised them, the children who depend on them or the paycheck they rely on to take care of them both," the president added, citing a Department of Labor report that concluded child care costs in major metropolitan areas costs as much as $17,000 a year. "That's more than you pay for your rent, your mortgage or college education for your children."

Biden recalled, just weeks after first being elected in 1972, his first wife and daughter were killed in a car crash, leaving him to raise two sons as he began his career in Washington. His sister and her husband, his mother, and his brother all lent a helping hand. 

"I often ask myself, what in God's name would I have done, it's not a joke, had I not have the family I had?" Biden said.

"We understand that the pandemic, we made even clearer just how hard it is for millions of working middle class families to provide care for their families," Biden continued. "It's not just how important the care economy, it's the entire economy. It's when people have to leave the labor force or can't enter in the first place because of caregiving responsibility. They can't fully participate in the economy. That drags down the whole nations productivity growth."

The White House cited a 2022 report from Boston Consulting Group, one of the world's largest management consulting firms, that estimated the United States' gross domestic product would lose $290 million a year beginning in 2030 if child care needs were not addressed.

Susan Rice, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, told reporters on a phone call Monday that the order shows that Biden isn't waiting on Congress to act.

"The child care, long-term care systems in this country just don't work well," Rice said. "High-quality care is costly to deliver. It's labor-intensive. It requires skilled workers. Yet care workers, who are disproportionately women and women of color and immigrants, are among the lowest paid in the country."

Biden echoed Rice in his remarks Tuesday.

"Under this order, almost every federal agency will collectively take over 50 actions to provide more peace of mind for families and dignity for care workers, who deserve jobs with good pay and good benefits," he said. "We're using the power of the federal government to get companies to do what's good for workers and, I might add, good for business as well."

"Folks, care workers deserve to make a decent living. That's a fight I'm willing to have," Biden added.