This group of women is leaving the labor force—again

During the pandemic, over two million women left the workforce, many of whom were forced to leave their jobs in the absence of reliable childcare. It took years for female workers to recover from those losses, but eventually the share of working women had surpassed pre-pandemic numbers—though their participation in the labor force still remained lower relative to that of male workers. 

In 2025, however, it appears that the gains that women had made in recent years started to slip away. 

In the first half of the year, about 212,000 women exited the workforce, and there was a marked dip in employment among working mothers: An analysis by the Washington Post found that the share of working mothers between the ages of 25 and 44 dropped steadily from January to June, resulting in an overall decrease of nearly three percentage points. 

The most recent jobs report showed that in December, a total of 81,000 workers left the labor force (which means they are no longer employed or looking for a new job). All of those workers were women, according to a new analysis by the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), which drew on the jobs report data. The overall losses were even higher: 91,000 women left the labor force last month, but that figure was offset by 10,000 men entering the labor force. 

Across 2025, there was an increase in the number of women entering the labor force—but at a much slower clip than in past years. The rate of increase among female workers also pales when compared with that of male workers: The pool of women in the labor force expanded by just 184,000, while the share of men grew by 572,000. 

This decline in employment also seems to be having an outsize impact on women of color, according to the NWLC. Unemployment among Black workers has been on the rise in recent months, but particularly for Black women; the unemployment rate for Black women inched up to 7.3% in December, up from 7.1% in November. Latinas also saw a marginal increase in unemployment, from 4.4% the month prior to 4.5% in December. (The overall rate of unemployment, by comparison, has hovered around 4.4%, with an even lower rate for white workers at 3.8%.) 

These fluctuations in employment come amid a growing number of hurdles for working mothers. Remote work policies had made it easier for many parents to remain in the workforce, particularly among mothers of young children. Over the last two years, many companies have forced their employees to return to the office, reversing the flexible work arrangements that had enabled parents to juggle their personal and professional obligations. In 2025, leading companies like Amazon and JPMorgan Chase started requiring that workers come into the office five days a week; a report from real estate company Jones Lang LaSalle found that the majority of employees at the hundred largest U.S. companies by revenue were required to come into the office. 

The Trump administration’s policies and executive actions have also taken a toll on women, and especially working mothers. Trump imposed own return-to-office requirements on federal workers, hundreds of thousands of whom were working remotely. Many of the federal layoffs targeted agencies where women and people of color were overrepresented, and they also disproportionately impacted probationary workers—those in their first year of service or people who have recently been promoted—who are more likely to be women.

Now, working mothers may face new challenges, as Trump takes aim at the childcare programs that make it possible for countless parents to work. 

The childcare industry has long struggled with inadequate funding and high labor costs, making it difficult for many providers to keep their doors open. The current administration has exacerbated some of those issues: When he took office, Trump threatened funding for Head Start, which helps subsidize childcare costs for low-income families, and the federal layoffs also compromised the program by cutting staff and making it even harder for underresourced childcare providers to stay afloat. 

Just days into the new year, Trump has sought to withhold $10 billion in federal funding earmarked for childcare subsidies and social services in Democratic states, due to concerns over alleged fraud. A federal judge has blocked the funding freeze for now—but there’s no telling how Trump may continue to target childcare and caregiving programs, to the detriment of working mothers.