Five years after the pandemic began, the job market is off the roller coaster
There was a downside to remote work early on, especially for working mothers, said Jasmine Tucker, vice president of research at the National Women’s Law Center. She had a 20-month-old at home when the pandemic hit.
“Those of us who were fortunate enough to have remote work, we were all doing it with our children with us,” said Tucker. “It feels so long ago, five years ago, but we were all here with little kids, virtual learning with bigger kids. It was a really stressful time.”
An analysis by her organization finds that five years later, it still is.
“We only just saw in 2024 the child care sector recover the jobs that it had lost,” said Tucker. “But when we look at population growth, there’s no way pre-pandemic child care workforce levels are going to be meeting the demand.”
