VISUAL ARTIST ASHLEY CECIL ’ S PROFESSIONAL LIFE WAS UPENDED WHEN SCHOOLS CLOSED . THE 39-YEAR-OLD MOTHER OF TWO , WHO EARNS LESS THAN HER HUSBAND , SAYS IT WAS CLEAR SHE ’ D BE THE ONE TO SCALE BACK .
Cecil dropped teaching engagements and began renting out her Pittsburgh studio . “ When push came to shove ,” she says , “ there was just no question that I was going to be ... the default parent until we could figure out some solution .”
She ’ s not the only one . The pandemic ’ s economic fallout has thrust working women like Cecil into a tenuous juggling act . Nearly 2.2 million women left the US workforce between February and October , according to a report by the
National Women ’ s Law Center . In December alone , the US economy lost 140,000 jobs , according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics . Women ’ s jobs comprised all of these losses . The pandemic has disproportionately impacted women ’ s employment , with the number of working women dipping to levels not seen since the early 1990s .
Decades of hard-fought gains are eroding : “ We ’ re at such a risk of 20 or 25 years of progress rolling backward ,” says Anneliese Olson , HP ’ s GM and Global Head , Print Category . Olson previously was the executive sponsor for the HP Women ’ s Network in Singapore and a leader of the Boise Women ’ s Network , and she currently mentors women formally and informally inside and outside HP .
Globally , women comprise 39 % of employment but more than 50 % of overall pandemic job losses last year ,
according to the McKinsey Global Institute . This recession slammed industries where women are heavily employed , such as retail , hospitality , food services , and government — as opposed to industries where men hold the most jobs , including construction and transportation . Loss of child care and home care for aging relatives sidelined many women , who manage a
greater share of household responsibilities in twoparent heterosexual households .
Interventions like added flexibility , remote work , and condensed workweeks have helped some women keep working . An emerging crop of technologies could further stem this wave of departures . Experts say the pandemic is expediting innovation because the need for solutions has been felt universally . “ What ’ s different this time is that it affects women across occupations , across sectors , across class . We ’ re all struggling with the same thing , and it ’ s not us . It ’ s the system ,” says C . Nicole Mason , president and CEO of the Institute for Women ’ s Policy Research ( IWPR ). This moment “ requires a reimagining of how we understand women in the workforce ,” she says .
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