Why, As A Young Person, I Care About Caregiving
This blogpost is part of our "Why I Care" series where we spotlight personal stories about caregiving. This blogpost is written by our amazing marketing intern, Pilar. As the co-founder of Project Matriarchs and a strong advocate for caregiving, she reflects on why young people need to start caring as a generation.
Hi!
My name is Pilar and I’m an intern at Mirza. As is typical FDOC (First Day of Class - a term I recently learned and now must use often to prove I know what it stands for) behavior, I will give a quick intro. Two years ago, I took the year off of school and started an organization called Project Matriarchs, where we are working to mobilize GenZ around caregiving. I am now back at college studying Environmental Studies and doing an Independent Concentration in Caregiving & Care Infrastructure in the United States. I got the privilege to work at Mirza this summer and so as the summer closes out, I wanted to put my thoughts and feelings into words.
As I’m sure you’re experiencing, the back-to-school, end-of-summer rush is full of both bitter and sweet. For me, these past few weeks have meant a return to college. A fun time to reunite but overwhelming, seemingly endless chaos. Speed walking from class to class while yelling “OMG hi! How are you? How was your summer?” And being the members of GenZ we are, I can assure you there has been a lot (A LOT) of screeching and OMGs.
But more than anything, being back at school, surrounded by young adults, I am reminded of the need to start caring. The people around me will create the next iteration of the workforce. We will be the working-parents, the stay-at-home dads, the CEOs, the gender equity advocates and so much more. We will be the next generation of individuals to take on both the caregiving responsibilities and the decisions around policies and infrastructure for how we are able to care.
No matter the lens we look at care through (ie. economic, personal, social, political), it is clear that both infrastructure and social support are lacking. From childcare shortages and a forced exodus of parents from the workforce to fights over the choice to have a child, it feels glaringly obvious that if I want to have a career and a life outside of my children I should stay far, far away from trying to build a family. And yet, I still find myself excited about the prospect.
The more I learn about what parenting and caregiving currently look like in the United States, the more doubtful I become about the possibility that I could really create a life in which I can indeed “have it all.” And so I find it really scary that I still want it. I want to be able to have a fulfilling career and the opportunity to build a family. And more than anything, I want the support to be able to do that.
I titled this piece with a focus on why “I care” but I guess I really meant why, as young people, “we” need to care. That in order for me to be able to care for future kids, my dad who has cancer, and my parents as they age (& whatever else comes up in the next phase of my life), we need to start caring as a generation. And this can be a hard ask of individuals at a stage of life where it often feels like taking care of someone else, nonetheless a child, is the last thing on the to-do list.
But, I think that the place where real change can be made is during this time in our lives. I think that by coming together and being the generation that fights for rights and support for caregivers, we can solve a lot more than we think we can. How are we to tackle climate change, gun violence and police brutality if those who need to be a part of the conversation are forced out of the public sphere back into the home with childcare responsibilities? And more than that, how can we expect to be able to make lasting change with values of love and empathy without really caring for those who care for us?
We will all be caregivers during our lives, whether we go on to be parents or not. And so we need to start acting like we care about our futures enough to start fighting now. We can shift the narrative in both public and corporate policy, but won’t be able to do that unless we start before we are caregivers. If this strikes a cord at all with you, I would love it if you could check out the Pledge to Care we wrote at Project Matriarchs. Send it along to anyone (GenZ or not) who you think might want to sign.
Sending lots of love to all!
Have a caregiving story to share? Tell us your experience and why care is important to you. Drop us an email team@heymirza.com.
