Crisis Conversations: Setting Working Moms Back a Generation?

Is the pandemic is setting women back a generation? Without reliable childcare and schools, an unprecedented number of working mothers have been forced to reduce their hours. Or have had to leave the workforce entirely. As Elizabeth Gedmark, vice president of A Better Balance said recently: “It’s not a question of whether women are set back in the workplace. It’s a question of how far back we will go: 10 years, 15 years, 20 years?”

What needs to change NOW to staunch the hemorrhaging and help women and their families achieve economic stability? And how can we design systems to ensure equity in the future?

Host: Brigid Schulte, Director, Better Life Lab at New America

Guests:

Bryce Covert, Journalist and author, most recently of "The economy could lose a generation of working mothers"

Jessica Calarco, Associate professor of sociology at Indiana University who studies inequalities in family life and education. Her pandemic-related research includes "My husband thinks I’m crazy" and "Let’s not pretend it’s fun"

Kari McCracken, Mother of five who was recently pushed out of the workforce and a career she loved because of a lack of childcare