Kamala Harris, a Democrat, is a US senator from California. Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat, represents Washington's 7th Congressional District in the House of Representatives. Ai-jen Poo is the executive director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA). The views expressed here are solely those of the authors. View more opinion articles on CNN.

(CNN) Change is in the air. Millions of Americans elected a Congress full of new, diverse voices and a historic number of women. They voted for policies that will make our nation more inclusive and democratic. Together, we turned a critical page, and now we can turn our attention to a critical issue for all of us -- our families and homes.

Kamala Harris

Pramila Jayapal

Ai-jen Poo

Every day, Americans turn to a domestic worker for care inside their homes. Who are domestic workers? They are the nanny we entrust with our children when we go to work, the housecleaner who brings order to our home, and home care worker who ensures our elders age with dignity. Too often invisible, they are the stitch that holds together a society rich with family bonds, and they make it possible for millions of working families to participate in our economy.

While domestic workers have always been a critical part of our economy, their importance is increasing. By 2026, care jobs will constitute one of the fastest growing professions in the country, and we will need more caregivers and nannies than we have ever needed before. But if those jobs operate then as they do now, they'll be done by some of our least visible and most vital workers -- domestic workers. This is an opportunity to create change that will not only define our economy, but who we are as a nation in the years to come.

For generations, domestic work -- traditionally performed mostly by women of color and immigrants -- has been overlooked and devalued, even in moments when other workers achieved hard-won gains. When the workplace protections of the New Deal were passed in the 1930s, Southern legislators demanded that farmworkers and domestic workers be excluded from its guarantees for most workers of a minimum wage, overtime protections, and the right to organize and form a union.

When the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964 -- including Title VII , which prohibits workplace harassment and discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin -- it excluded workplaces with fewer than 15 employees, which describes the working environment of almost all domestic workers. And when the Occupational Health and Safety Act was signed into law in 1970 to "assure safe and healthy working conditions for working men and women," once again, domestic workers were left out.

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