Did you know that, women, particularly women of color, have been affected economically more than men throughout the pandemic, according to recent jobs reports.
By now, you have read the headlines, repeating like a depressing drum beat:
“Working moms are not okay.” “Pandemic Triples Anxiety And Depression Symptoms In New Mothers.” “Working Moms Are Reaching The Breaking Point.”
You can also see the problem in numbers: Almost 1 million mothers have left the workforce — with Black mothers, Hispanic mothers and single mothers among the hardest hit. Almost one in four children experienced food insecurity in 2020, which is intimately related to the loss of income.
Read one mom’s story: During the day, the oldest kids, 13 and 11, look after the youngest, 9 and 7, with Mom #1 checking in regularly. Since she works at a daycare, Mom#1 takes her 2-year-old with her to work. The thought of leaving four of her kids at home makes her anxious, and she’s often up late at night worrying about the pressure this puts on her older kids. “I kind of didn’t want to put that on him and his older sister,” she said. “But I had to choose: Stay home and don’t get a paycheck or go to work.”
The National Women’s Law Center analyzed the December jobs report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It found women lost 156,000 jobs while men gained 16,000, a trend seen throughout the pandemic. The center also found 9.1% of Latina women and 8.4% of Black women were unemployed.
Throughout the pandemic, more women than men have lost their jobs. A report out of the National Bureau of Economic Research finds the two main reasons are that the pandemic dealt a blow to industries — such as health care and hospitality — in which more women tend to work. Closed schools and daycare centers have also made it harder for working moms to hold down jobs.
“Covid has had a much bigger impact on minority communities. But it’s also a question of what kind of employment, what kind of job you have,” he said. “The occupations that Black and Hispanic single moms have are less likely to be the kinds of occupations that allow you to work from home through the crisis.”
The impact of the pandemic on families with young children, points out that the stressors on mothers were magnified by a number of intersecting issues, including poverty, race, having special needs children and being a single parent.
We at New Moms have experienced some of these same issues with the hundreds of moms in our programs. Thanks to the support of so many we have been able to pivot and provide support the moms have needed such as cash assistance, employment, safe childcare, housing, job training, access to healthy foods, COVID tests and vaccines and mental health resources and support.
Will you join me in partnering with young families to continue to support economic mobility and strengthen family well-being? You can do so by donating now on my page to the right.
Here’s how your support can impact our moms and their families:
- $25 can support diapers and formula for 1 family for a week.
- $55 can support 1 night of housing for a young mom and her child.
- $115 can support 1 month of one month of unlimited transportation for a participant, removing barriers for her to travel to our Job Training program and access childcare for her family.
- $450 can fund a baby shower for our prenatal support group moms-to-be!
Would you be willing to donate and help me reach my fundraising goal? Your donation will make a real difference in the lives of the moms and children at New Moms.
With love, Happy Mother's Day,
Cody McSellers-McCray (Mom to ATG, 8 yrs old)
