2 reasons there's a 'mom-cession' brewing in the US job market
Labor force participation has declined among women with the youngest child under 5. Jessie Casson/Getty Images It's tough to be a job-seeking mom with young children, and some may choose to leave the workforce. Labor force participation has dropped for women with children under age 5. Return-to-office pushes and childcare issues are two major factors. When Fatema Ali was laid off from her IBM project manager job in 2024, one of her biggest concerns was how she and her husband would support their three children, the youngest of whom was 8 months old. She hoped to find another job quickly. But she's still looking for full-time work. A few months earlier, her husband had left his job to pursue a startup idea that wasn't yet generating income. "I didn't want that pressure to show on my face," said Ali, who's in her 30s and lives in Texas. "I don't want my children to feel like there is anything wrong." The past few years have been especially c...
