The Consequences of Women Leaving the Workforce

In 1920, women gained the right to vote, marking a pivotal moment in American history and the women’s movement. The right to vote not only meant women could choose candidates and policies that aligned with their personal agendas, but it also sparked a century of policies that helped women close the social, political, and economic gaps between men and women. During that time, primarily young, unmarried, and uneducated women worked, then dropped out of the labor force after getting married. These women worked in manufacturing or the service sector and had little opportunity for career advancement. In 2020, 100 years later, most children are raised in households with two working parents. More women have entered the workforce, especially in capacities where they can build a career, rather than simply hold a job.

Between 1920 and 2020, female economic outcomes have increased significantly. In January 2020, they constituted 50.04% of payroll jobs in the United States, just slightly outnumbering men. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 71 percent of mothers with child work, while the Pew Research Center found that women are the primary breadwinner in 40 percent of households with children.

Unfortunately, these numbers reflect employment prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. All businesses, ranging in size, were forced to shut down, alongside bars, restaurants, schools, and factories. In total, the American economy shrank by 22.2 million jobs. In December 2020 alone, the economy lost about 140,000 jobs.

The catch? All of these December job losses belonged to women.

The National Women’s Law Center concluded that women lost 156,000 total jobs during December 2020, while men gained 16,000. Throughout the pandemic, women struggled in the economy. Of the net job losses since February, women have accounted for 55% of them. These women are not just losing their jobs. Rather, they are dropping out of the labor force entirely.

In January, 275,000 women left the labor force, which accounts for about 80% of all workers above the age of 20 who left the workforce that month. This brings the total number of women who have dropped out of the labor force since 2020 to 2.3 million, while just about 1.8 million men have left in the same time frame. Women’s labor force participation stands at 57%, the lowest since 1988.

While women have improved their social and economic outcomes since the 1920s, they are nowhere near gender parity. Women are underpaid, relative to men, earning about 92 cents to the dollar, despite pursuing education and employment in high-wage industries. Jobs that employ more women, like healthcare, education, and domestic work, tend to be excluded from guarantees of minimum wage and overtime pay. Median wages also decline as an occupation becomes more female-dominated. These factors contribute to the expectations of women entering the labor force. Because they see that discrimination and wage gaps occur, they may be less likely to pursue a certain career or field.

Gender disparities also exist within the home. Women face a disproportionate burden of household work, with married, American mothers spending nearly twice as much time on housework and childcare as their male counterparts. Moreover, the United States remains the only rich country that does not offer paid family leave, and one of only a few countries without government subsidized child care. While policymakers may not prioritize affordable childcare, it certainly is a necessity in America today. 25% of all working women have a child under the age of 14 at home, with about 17% of them relying on childcare and schooling to keep their children safe during work hours. About 12% of all working men rely on schools and childcare. The ability to access affordable childcare is inextricably linked to the ability for mothers to work. One analysis found that maternal labor force participation is 3 percentage points lower in childcare deserts than in areas with adequate childcare supply.

In March 2020, the pandemic hit the United States, shuttering the doors of schools, childcare facilities, and afterschool programs. Parents scrambled to educate and care for their children, while also continuing to do their day jobs online. The line between work and home, once demarcated by travel, blurred, and, for women, disappeared altogether. Women, who were already doing the greater share of household chores and childcare, now juggled an even bigger workload. More often than not, they had to choose between working and childcare, a decision that few men end up facing.

In general, women are less likely to be hired for jobs if they have children. Studies have shown that fatherhood is seen as an attribute in hiring, while motherhood is seen as a detriment. In fact, high-income fathers get the biggest pay bump for having children, and low-income women see the biggest penalty. This disparity only gets worse when employers can see mothers and fathers interacting with children during remote work. While men may be seen as “stable and committed,” employers may see women as distracted or lazy.

Women also dominate in low-wage industries or so-called “pink collar” jobs. These jobs are not necessarily indicative of an impoverished state, as some women have a high-earning spouse or are starting out their career. However, 63% of these employees are between 25-54 and 57% work full time year-round, meaning that a lot of low-wage earners use this money to support a family. Incidentally, these were the jobs that could not transition to a remote capacity. Women in retail sales and hospitality were being laid off, as businesses could no longer afford to employ them. Those women who did not suffer job losses were primarily essential workers, including healthcare support and grocery workers. They kept their jobs, but risked their health and the health of their families to earn a living.

For generations, the economy has relied on the unpaid work of women to care for and educate children, rather than instituting structural changes. Today’s economy attempts to push a round peg into a square whole: the lack of adequate child support does not suit a country where most families have two working parents. Assuming that one parent is the breadwinner and the other stays home to raise the children promotes an outdated notion about familial dynamics and ignores the real issues facing families in today’s world. Without structural changes to the welfare and childcare system, women will continue to feel the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the short term, the biggest threat to women is the impending mental health crisis. The constant, daily stress of being a child’s mother, teacher, caretaker, along with the duties associated with a day job takes a huge toll on a woman’s physical and emotional well-being.

Over a longer period of time, women may face difficulties reentering the workforce. Given the motherhood penalty, some employers may not be willing to hire women with long gaps in their employment history. This can also decrease the wage that women will earn when they do find a full-time job again. Women on a career track may miss out on crucial promotions or, even, be unable to return to the same path again. These factors limit female career opportunities in ways that threaten to widen the gender pay gap.

Women need structural changes not only during the pandemic, but also after it ends. Employers should encourage transparency in salary, finance childcare, and give pandemic-era employment gaps the benefit of the doubt. Policymakers have the responsibility of instituting subsidized childcare, direct payments to parents, and offer tax credits to businesses that rehire mothers.

The pandemic will come to an end, but the struggles that working women and mothers face will not. To ignore them and the important role that they play in society will exacerbate the issues that they currently face. Employers, policymakers, and individuals only have two choices: to empower them through meaningful policy changes or leave them behind.