Career Choices
It’s Me, Mom
More than a year has passed since Emma Johnson decided to leave her long-standing position as a radiology technologist, and she vividly recalls the moment she reached her limit. Amidst a diminished staff, she was part of a small radiology team striving to keep up with the influx of patients from the hospital’s trauma E.R. The pandemic had resulted in staff shortages, leading her and her coworkers to routinely work overtime.
“Management wanted us to believe that they prioritized working moms, but that wasn’t true,” Emma reflects. During Mother’s Day weekend, two young children were brought into her department for scans, both suspected victims of abuse. Imagining her own kids at home, who were similar in age, she stepped away from her duties for the first time in her career to cry.
“That weekend, I thought, ‘I need to leave. I’m done,’” she shares. “It absolutely shattered me.” Through a colleague, she discovered a new position that would allow her to step away from the rigors of radiology and focus on training staff instead. She applied immediately; it was a lateral move with little pay increase, but it offered the flexibility she needed to care for her children. Without her husband stepping in as the primary caregiver during her working hours, managing any work schedule would have been unimaginable.
Working Moms Adjusting
Many women exited the workforce during the initial years of the pandemic, and we are still grappling with the consequences of these departures, according to recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. While men have completely regained their jobs lost since February 2020, there are still 1.1 million fewer women participating in the labor market.
For mothers like Emma who remained in the workforce, the priority shifted to finding jobs with flexible hours, often turning down higher-paying opportunities. “Before taking this new position, I had applied for a managerial role because I knew I could do it,” she explains. “But then I withdrew my application. I couldn’t handle the late-night phone calls with my kids being so young.”
Emma isn’t alone. A 2021 McKinsey survey revealed that one in three working mothers considered reducing their career commitments or leaving their jobs entirely since the pandemic began.
Desire for Flexibility
Like Emma, Lily Carter worked in a job where remote work was impossible during the pandemic’s early phase. As a bioinformatics scientist in Texas, Lily needed to be onsite to conduct lab experiments. With her 16-month-old son in daycare, she frequently had to stay home due to stringent COVID policies. Rather than her husband taking time off, she often volunteered to do so herself.
“The assumption is that the mother will always be the one to step in because that’s how society views it,” Lily says. “Even at daycare, they reach out to me first, expecting me to communicate with my husband if I can’t come in.”
Sharing childcare responsibilities with her husband wasn’t straightforward either. Gradually, she learned to ask him to take time off instead of always volunteering. “I had to prepare for those awkward moments,” she laughs. “The expectation is for us as moms to handle everything.”
Even with support at home, Lily yearned for a job that offered the remote flexibility she craved. Earning $53,000 at her current position, she began exploring roles rooted in data analysis that could be performed remotely instead of being bound to the lab. After consulting with a career coach and applying for new opportunities, she received offers from three different companies. Ultimately, she chose a position that more than doubled her salary and allowed her to work entirely from home.
She starts her new job in early March and is excited about the prospect of affording some comforts that will give her more time with her son. “I’m going to have a regular housekeeping schedule now,” she says. “And I’ll be able to enjoy takeout more than once a week, which will be a real treat.”
Post-Pandemic Motherhood
There’s no denying that the pandemic took a toll on working mothers, but the truth is that they were already facing significant challenges in the workplace long before COVID-19. The persistent gender wage gap and a lack of mandated paid parental leave have long affected women’s long-term earning potential. Furthermore, the societal notion that domestic responsibilities primarily fall on women adds to the strain working mothers experience.
The Build Back Better Plan, which aimed to address these issues, failed to secure Congressional approval last year, and hopes for universal benefits like paid parental leave remain unfulfilled. Whether employers will step up to create more supportive environments for working parents remains uncertain. Like Emma and Lily, many working mothers recognize that they can’t afford to wait for change.
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Summary
The pandemic has profoundly altered the working landscape for mothers, pushing many to seek more flexible job opportunities and reassess their career paths. With ongoing challenges such as the gender wage gap and lack of parental support, mothers like Emma and Lily exemplify a growing trend of women taking control of their work-life balance. As they navigate their careers amidst these changes, the need for supportive workplaces remains critical.