The United Way of Bucks County recently gathered a panel of Bucks County women gathered to discuss the effect of COVID-19 on female employment. The event was cohosted by ReadyNation, a national organization centered on career education.
Their findings are compelling:
- In 1Q2021, female workforce participation nationwide was at its lowest rate in more than 30 years
- More than four times as many Pennsylvania women were unemployed in December 2020 than in December 2019
- Female workforce participation is not expected to fully rebound to pre-pandemic levels until late 2024
The thinktank participants saw a clear corollary between the rebound of women’s careers and childcare.
An associated survey by Pennsylvania’s Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed (ALICE) project revealed 82 percent of families in the state faced childcare issues during the pandemic. Nearly half (45 percent) had to adjust work schedules to accommodate childcare needs.
And more than half 57 percent, found the home-career tightrope so difficult to walk that they left their careers permanently.
Local participants included Jeane Vidoni, President & CEO of Penn Community Bank. She encapsulated the issue and the call for a solution.
“Employees’ struggles with childcare during the pandemic have certainly impacted the operations of many businesses,” she said. “Childcare is a persistent, ongoing problem that needs our immediate attention if our economic recovery is to continue.”
