WASHINGTON — So many women have dropped out of the workforce during the pandemic that the Biden administration has said it is an emergency and warned of a setback so severe that it could stand in the way of a full economic recovery.
The White House says it is concerned that women are taking themselves out of the running for promotions, off the frontlines of health care work and away from education opportunities that lead to higher paying jobs because their family responsibilities are piling up at home.
“In one year, the pandemic has put decades of the progress we’ve collectively made for women workers at risk,” Vice President Kamala Harris told women’s advocacy groups and female lawmakers recently. “And the longer we wait to act, the harder it will be to bring these millions of women back into the workforce,” she said.
