Column
The Pandemic Isn’t Forcing Moms Out of the Workforce — Dads Are
Let’s be crystal clear about why working mothers are suffering
On Wednesday, the Washington Post published a piece warning that the “coronavirus childcare crisis will set women back a generation,” echoing a FiveThirtyEight article from earlier in the week headlined, “How the Pandemic Could Force a Generation of Mothers Out of the Workforce.” Similarly, while the Wall Street Journal says “Women’s Careers Could Take a Long-Term Hit from Coronavirus Pandemic,” CNN predicts that “The Pandemic is Threatening to Erase Women’s Progress.”
I’m glad to see the broad concern for protecting women’s workplace advancements, but there’s a conspicuous missing piece here: dads.
It’s true that the unprecedented impact of Covid-19 is already having an outsized impact on American moms, but that’s not purely because of the virus itself — it’s because the country has seemingly given up on the idea that fathers will step up and do an equal share of parenting, even if it would save their wives’ careers.
Right now, article after article is predicting a grim rollback of women’s workplace gains: Job losses are disproportionately impacting women, experts believe women’s earnings will take a hit, and the lack of…
