Working Moms Leaving Workforce in Large Numbers
Originally published by Abha Bhattarai for the Washington Post
Working mothers, who helped drive much of the job market’s post-pandemic comeback, are leaving the workforce in large numbers this year.
The share of working mothers age 25 to 44 with young children has fallen nearly every month this year, dropping by nearly 3 percentage points between January and June, to the lowest level in more than three years, according to an analysis of federal data by Misty Heggeness, a professor at the University of Kansas and former principal economist at the Census Bureau.
The drop has been enough to wipe out many of the gains made by working mothers after the pandemic, when remote work arrangements and flexible schedules lured many back to the labor force.