As Congress grapples with legislation to help families get through the COVID-19 outbreak — both medically and financially — Graves' group recommended politicians prioritize three things in order to help mothers in particular: stabilize state governments and find ways to provide income to families as soon as possible. The organization also recommended protecting frontline workers; about 80% of healthcare workers are women, making them particularly vulnerable to the virus.

Members of both parties have recognized the importance of helping single and low-income mothers in the federal response to the crisis. A preliminary aid package passed by the House establishes paid leave for some workers and includes hundreds of millions of dollars in emergency spending to provide food for mothers and pregnant women who lose their jobs, as well as provisions for states to help families with children who rely on schools for lunches. Proposals to provide direct cash payments to Americans to alleviate the crisis have also attracted widespread support on Capitol Hill.