When I first “coined the word”inheritance“In 2020, it was meant to describe what millions of women were experiencing — an economic downturn that hit them hardest. That spring, I led a national think tank on women and the economy from my dining room table while my 11-year-old twins attended remote school just a few feet away.
When asked I told the new York Times That we should “go ahead and call it a ‘she-session’.”
Data and stories align: Women – especially in service, care and education – were losing jobs Faster than men. Succession described one economic recession That disproportionately took away women’s jobs and income, spurred by the public-health emergency that shut down the world almost overnight.
Five years later, that’s not what we’re seeing. This is more deliberate and very bad.
There is no epidemic today. The economy is officially strong. unemployment looms around 4 percentAnd GDP growth remains broadly stable 2 to 3 percentBy conventional measures, recovery has been complete. yet more than that 455,000 women – including more than 300,000 black women – Has left the workforce since January.
They didn’t go because they wanted to. They have been pushed out by policy choices, corporate inflexibility, and a political environment that makes it nearly impossible to balance caregiving and paid work.
This is not a market failure; This is a man-made crisis.
Return-to-office orders have eliminated the flexibility that once made it possible for many women to simultaneously work and care for their families. Layoffs are taking place in the public sector, especially in education and health services Kill women difficult,
Child care costs have increased about 20 Percentage from 2019 and now above average $11,500 annually For centre-based care. In many states, he is more than In-state college tuition. Add to that persistent pay gap – women still earn 83 cents For every dollar people earn – and the burden is growing unpaid elder careAnd the pressure keeps increasing.
During the pandemic,we learned something deep: Flexibility is not a luxury; This is a lifeline. Remote and hybrid work keptmillionsNumber of employed women and functioning of the economy. For the first time, society recognized that exhaustion and “doing it all” were not individual failings, but structural flaws.
Corporate America insists on “returning to normal”, ignoring that normal has never workedmost womenEven the federal government, once a model of flexible employment, has done sotelework reducedAndlaid off employeesMeanwhile, the cost of child care continues to riseSalary incrementForcing families to make impossible choices.
This wave of women leaving the workforce does not fit neatly into economic terminology. This is neither a recession nor a recovery; This is an account. This time the economic shock is not external or inevitable. It’s coming from within the system – from workplaces and policies that refuse to evolve.
Behind each data point lies a personal decision: A mother rejects a promotion because the cost of after-school care exceeds the cost of raising her; A federal employee leaving his or her agency after eliminating remote work; A daughter is quitting her job to care for her aging parents because paid leave is out of her reach.
America knows how to deal with it. Paid Family and Medical Leave, affordable hair care, pay equity And flexible work policies are proven keep women in the labor force And strengthen the economy,
We can’t say that we don’t know how to fix it. The pandemic was a proof of concept. when we invest careMake flexibility the norm and value women’s labor the economy is booming,
Women’s full participation is not just a moral or social imperative – it is an economic imperative. Reducing the gender gap in labor force participation could boost US GDP, according to McKinsey Global Institute studyfrom $2.1 trillionover the past decade. Women do not just bear the cost of exclusion; This slows down productivity, innovation and growth for everyone.
The real question is not whether we can afford to act – but whether we have the will to do so.
Because this time due to the crisis women are not going out. They’re leaving because of their own choices – not just their own. And this should concern us all.
C. Nicole Mason, Ph.D. is the President and CEO of Future Forward Women.
