Stop saying women are "dropping out" of the workforce — we're being pushed
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Journalists have shown a real proclivity lately for claiming that women are "dropping out" of the workforce. We need to stop reinforcing this false narrative, which casts women as quitters. The truth is that women are being crushed by impossible competing demands as caregivers and breadwinners. Our insane capitalist culture has pushed women from the workforce. And we have the stories to prove it. (To my fellow women: Please see my call for your stories at the end of this article.)
I recently tweeted about this. The response has been: As of this writing, it's been RT'd nearly 200 times, and "liked" over 600 times. A similar message that I shared on LinkedIn has been liked over 100 times, and has sparked dozens of comments. What's most striking to me, though — as someone who runs a company devoted to telling women's stories — is the outpouring of personal stories that women are sharing.
One HR leader wrote: "Amen. This is my reality. I’ve paused my career search to focus on homeschooling and my family’s mental health."
A woman from Slovenia observed that saying "women" were dropping out from the workforce was also a misnomer: It's not all women—it's mothers, specifically.
But actually, it's not just moms — it's all female caregivers. "Caregiver" can be a wonky word that means different things to different people, so just to clarify, I'm talking about women who are responsible (but of course, not compensated) for taking care of someone else, whether it's a child, an aging parent, or another relative in need.
For example, a woman in her 60s shared: "I had an awesome work from home position marketing for a local company. It was my dream job due to the flexibility I had to be there for my disabled husband. The company shut down due to COVID. Who is going to want a 65 yr old woman who can only work part-time from home? Screwed."
Please share your own story of being pushed from the workforce this year, and help elevate this discussion. It's time to change the narrative.
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