Data Deep Dive: A Decline of Women in the Workforce

The US Chamber of Commerce America Works Data Center captures national workforce trends. This page captures the latest data on women in the workforce—and the impact of childcare breakdowns on workforce participation—in the wake of the pandemic.

Data show that women who left the labor force during the pandemic, often to take on childcare duties, have not yet returned.

Both men and women suffered a 3% drop in labor force participation at the height of the pandemic. But more than two years later, men have returned to work at a higher rate than women. Today, women’s labor force participation is still a full percentage point lower than it was pre-pandemic, meaning an estimated one million women are missing from the labor force.