Since March 2020, women have stopped working, either voluntarily or due to layoffs, at higher rates than men, leading experts to label the economic crisis a ‘she-cession.’ Many women who’ve left the workforce are single moms who need childcare but can’t access it during the pandemic. 

The COVID-19 recession has affected groups in different ways. Black moms have been more likely than Latina moms and white moms to quit their jobs. Latina moms were more likely to be laid off than white and Black moms. This is in part because Latinas were more likely to work face-to-face service positions, such as in restaurants and hotels. 

Experts forecast that loss of skills, tenure and income among women and women of color will shape the U.S. economy for years to come by making it more difficult for moms of color to re-enter the workforce, earn the same amount as their white counterparts and reach supervisor and management positions.

In this episode, economic opportunities reporter Charisse Jones talks with cognitive scientist and president of Barnard College Dr. Sian Beilock about how employers can get women back in the workforce and why it’s so important they do so.

Additional reading:

How can women get back to work in the middle of a pandemic?

Without paid leave, people of color must make an ‘impossible choice’

Black, Latina, immigrant moms are losing jobs as COVID-19 childcare crisis grows