Pandemic and She-cession: overburdened working women

As a fourth generation working mom, its’ motherhood that made me more appreciative of the struggles of my mom, grandmother & great grandmother. I always looked up to them as role models, but empathy came when I walked in their shoes.

Last year with first lockdown, dinner tables suddenly turned into office and school, phone and computers where work and study happens, our sole window to outside world. ?The pandemic has played a disastrous part in working moms’ lives. Every day I get messages from friends and strangers with whom I share one common denominator, we are working mothers, seeking support. Most of us don’t have anyone to help us through our days (blame it on nuclear family culture and distance of lockdown ) Since pandemic, working moms are not only the primary caretaker of the child, they are also?teacher to the online-schooler, counsellor & best friend, along with being the?cook, household help, disciplinarian, simultaneously trying to live their career aspirations and dreams that are sinking down into a void.

A recent report by Mckinsey “For mothers in the workplace, a year (and counting) like no other” ? starts with “Working moms are a resilient group, accustomed to juggling work responsibilities and family time with aplomb.”[1] Notice, how it is expected of working moms to multitask and if they fumble at work they are termed non serious, if they fumble in parenting, they are blamed for being career oriented, if something is wrong at home, they are again blamed for not being available. Most working moms don’t have anyone to leave the child with and schools were the only trusted place, which now remain closed. (I have taken my daughter to work so often for that reason). In India, it is increasingly difficult for mothers to leave child with help due to lack of dependability on system faltered background checks, no watertight contracts, trafficking and general lack of trust.

Dr. Margie Warell says “Domestic duties is amplified for working moms who are 1.5 times more likely to report additional 3 hours a day on domestic ‘chores’ – essentially another part-time job. It explains why an eye-popping 865,000 women left the U.S. workforce last September - coinciding with children returning to school, from home.”[2]

C Nicole Mason started to refer to the pandemic phenomenon of work loss for women as a “She-cession” ??and many economists have followed suit analysing the long road to recovery to get the women back in workforce.

The “She-cession” will drastically reduce household income and will have a direct impact on consumer patterns of not just the middle class but lower class as well. For every working mom, creates jobs in her household. In Indian context, a working mother hires household help, tutors and drivers for their children, these jobs will be gone too in absence of urban working mom.

In a study by University of Southern California 44% women said they are also sole care provider for their children. These percentage are more than double in India. A lot of highly talented and educated women either move out of workforce or take up not so gratifying jobs, post child birth.?Yet what is forgotten it is these mothers who are raising the next generation, successfully, decade after decade.

Forbes quoted Lareina Yee of Mckinsey “It’s three to five hours of housework on top of your full-time job—a job and a half. When working moms say they feel exhausted and burnt out, there’s a reason for that.”[3]

However, ABC news reports that “Women between 25-44 are 3 times more likely to leave their work due to child care demands and children home from school.” [4]

The double duty that mothers are now dealing with has also taken a toll on their mental and physical health. Most working mothers I speak to have little time for self-care, forget a dedicated fitness routine. Women handle the maximum brunt of domestic duties.

As the Mckinsey report says “ Due to pandemic, one out of four working moms with young children have considered downshifting career or dropping out of workforce completely. This year has been an incredible test of resilience for women, and especially for working moms.”[5]

In countries like India, gender equality esp. for mothers has no importance in policy making (again most reforms are formulated by men), as there is a huge populace suffering for basics during pandemic, rights for women automatically take a backseat. However, what is forgotten even the maid working in your house, the female construction worker, the vegetable vendor, the ironing lady (press wali) is a working mom. They form backbone of urban working class, and when they suffer the economy suffers. The job loss for working moms is a trickle-down effect which will be magnified in future affecting cash flow in economy.

If you are a working woman or working mom with privileges and support system, please reach out to one of the millions suffering silently. Also, if you are a working mom, having a tough day, you can talk to me.

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[1] https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/for-mothers-in-the-workplace-a-year-and-counting-like-no-other#

[2] https://www.forbes.com/sites/margiewarrell/2021/01/06/does-a-she-cession-loom-how-to-better-support-women-through-this-pandemic/?sh=581103743ece

[3] https://www.forbes.com/sites/shelleyzalis/2021/05/17/the-future-for-working-moms-what-a-year-of-pandemic-life-taught-us/?sh=3ab6f0462300

[4] https://abcnews.go.com/US/huge-mental-toll-working-moms-struggle-year-pandemic/story?id=76184884

[5] https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/for-mothers-in-the-workplace-a-year-and-counting-like-no-other#

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