Our gut reaction may be to pin all of these problems to the intensity of the pandemic, but if we zoom out, we’ll see more to the story. The real question that arises is: Did the pandemic create a crisis when it comes to women and work? Or did it reveal a fracture in the American marketplace that has long affected female workers?
Brisa Renteria left her corporate job in June 2020, the same month she had her first baby. Not only had the pandemic closed the daycare she’d lined up for her infant, but her husband’s employer was in the thick of mass layoffs. Renteria knew that if her husband couldn’t put in as much work as he typically did, he could be targeted for the next round.
A few months prior, Kristin Wise, the
This story is from Common Good issue 07.