For years, women were told they could "have it all" - climb the corporate ladder while also juggling family responsibilities. But a troubling new trend is emerging: Hundreds of thousands of women are now leaving the workforce, undoing hard-won progress towards gender equality.
What this really means is that the pandemic-era challenges of caregiving and work-life balance have become insurmountable for many women. As USA Today reports, a growing share of mothers with young children are exiting the labor force, with the number of women participating down nearly 2 percentage points from the previous year.
The Perfect Storm of Caregiving and Costs
The reasons behind this exodus are complex, but the data tells a clear story. According to a recent survey by Catalyst, 42% of women cited caregiving responsibilities - including the prohibitive cost of childcare - as the primary driver for leaving their jobs. Nearly one in five also reported feeling dissatisfied with their pay.
The bigger picture here is that the pandemic-era shift to remote work offered a temporary respite, but as offices have recalled employees and pandemic-era childcare support has lapsed, women have been left with an impossible choice. As Deseret News reports, close to 455,000 women left the workforce in January 2025 alone.
A Troubling Reversal of Progress
Economists warn that this mass exodus of women from the workforce doesn't just impact individual careers and earnings - it also poses a serious threat to broader economic growth. As CNN reports, the losses "stand to erase the historic gains made by women in recent years" and risk "stifling US economic growth."
The work-life balance that was once touted as the ideal for modern women has become an impossible dream for far too many. Unless employers and policymakers take urgent action to support working mothers, this troubling trend shows no signs of slowing. The stakes couldn't be higher for women, families, and the economy as a whole.