Working mothers are quitting to take care of their kids, and the US job market may never be the same
Connecting the Dots – #YesThisIsAnArtsStory Repost from CNN
Anneken Tappe | 19 August 2020
New York (CNN Business)America’s parents are going through a year of tough choices, and it isn’t getting any easier. With the school year starting, many have to choose between their jobs and staying home to take care of their kids.
More often than not, this burden falls on mothers.
One in five working-age adults is unemployed because Covid-19 upended their child care arrangements, according to new research from the Census Bureau and the Federal Reserve. And of those not working, women are nearly three times more likely than men to remain home for the kids.
Several women said the pandemic has forced them to reconsider how to balance their professional and home lives.
Kelly Bebout, a mom in California who’s been in her health care job for nearly a decade, said she’s able to take 12 weeks of leave when the school year starts to support her children in distance learning. What happens after that is uncertain.
“I fully expect to have to choose between my family and my job of almost 10 years very soon, which really isn’t a choice,” she told CNN Business. “It will mean being unemployed for the first time in my adult life, but my family has to come first.”
Katie Simon from Michigan has also been weighing the decision of whether to quit her job since the pandemic started.
