The American workforce is a matriarchy

"Women with young kids are more likely to be in the workforce than ever before, a shift due in part to the country's cost-of-living crisis. This phenomenon of having more employed women than men also reflects a gradual shift in the labor market: The industry composition is moving away from traditionally male-dominated blue-collar occupations and more toward healthcare work. Many experts are also pointing to childcare access and telework options as important factors for women's labor force participation."

"But despite what some may suggest , I don't think telework plays a significant factor in the current labor market story. As a labor economist who spends most of my time crunching numbers about how gender interacts with the labor market, I think the data suggests that women are charging ahead in part thanks to childcare support that became more readily available during the Covid-19 pandemic."

"We have to look at this trend in rising female employment through the lens of that time and experience. Mothers were hit hard by the pandemic shutdown, and their participation in the labor force plummeted in the spring of 2020. Many moms didn't recover until nearly two years later , and their maternal scream still echoed across the media landscape long after the world first ground to a halt. School closures put parents - mostly women - in a bind."

"But pandemic-era stimulus packages that funded childcare helped ensure early educators kept their roles, and that thousands of programs could keep running. The fe"

Women with young children are more likely to be employed than ever, influenced by the cost-of-living crisis. The labor market is shifting away from traditionally male-dominated blue-collar work and toward healthcare occupations. Childcare access and telework options are often cited as factors in women’s labor force participation. Telework is not seen as a major driver in the current pattern. During the Covid-19 shutdown, mothers’ labor force participation fell sharply, with many leaving work to care for children during school closures. Many mothers did not fully recover until nearly two years later. Stimulus funding for childcare helped keep early education programs operating and supported childcare workers’ employment.

Read at Salon.com