Since the pandemic began, women have been leaving the workforce at unprecedented rates; two million have been forced out of their jobs, or have quit over the past year.
“More than 40% of the job losses in the L.A. area are in the leisure and hospitality sector alone,” said sociologist Sarah Jane Glynn, who recently co-authored a report on this phenomenon. “And that's a sector that employs a lot of women.”
On top of job losses, Glynn said that working mothers are doing most of the stepping-up at home in the absence of schools and childcare centers.
“We live in a world where women do the majority of caregiving,” she said. “Women do the majority of household labor, regardless if they have another job or not.”
The fact that women generally earn less than men compounds the problem if families give up the lower salary when deciding who will stay home.
One local mom told us in January that she saw her entire life turned upside down.
“Overnight, I went from a VP at a marketing agency to full-time teacher, chef, maid, mom and housewife,” said Alison Gerali, a mother of three. “It wasn't a conscious decision; it was a necessity.”
