The pandemic’s impact on working moms

With kids at home, careers to maintain, and households to run, working mothers are running on empty. Something’s gotta give. Unfortunately, it’s often their job. Today, womens’ participation in the U.S. labor force is the lowest it's been in decades. They’re pulling back on their careers – or dropping out of the workforce entirely – because they simply can’t do it all. The situation is especially dire for women in senior leadership positions and Black women. Marianne Cooper, Ph.D., is a sociologist at Stanford University where she researches issues related to gender, women’s leadership, diversity and inclusion, financial insecurity, and economic inequality. She was the lead researcher for Sheryl Sandberg’s best-selling book, Lean In, and is an author of the Women in the Workplace reports by McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.org. Marianne joins us to share major findings from this year’s eye-opening report, which reveals just how stark the Covid-19 pandemic has laid bare the inequalities and insecurities women have faced in the workplace for years. She also discusses what we must do to keep women in the workforce – enabling them, their families, their employers, and the economy to thrive in the process. Listen to this episode to learn: -The tension (and burnout) working moms feel between being the “ideal worker” and the “good mother” -Why women suffer the “mom penalty” and worry they’ll be stigmatized at work (so they hide child care responsibilities from co-workers and managers) -Why one in four women are considering “downshifting” their careers or leaving the workforce due to Covid-19 -How the increase in remote work has created greater bias against working mothers -Why we must show up for Black women – and what employers can do to better support them -What business, society, and the economy risks losing if we don’t act with urgency and empathy to support working families -Actions employers can take to keep women in the workforce, including better family care benefits, rethinking performance reviews, and greater flexibility For more information, visit https://www.mariannecooper.com/