"According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, women are dropping out of the job market in notable numbers. In the last year, over 600,000 women abandoned ship (from a participation rate of 57.7% in 2024 to 56.9% this year). That's a huge deal, reports the Economist, marking the biggest rise in the male-female participation gap since the 1950s. Even more concerning: it's women with college or higher degrees and young children who are responsible for this decline, says a new study by KPMG."
"Though these young women had been driving the record participation of prime-age women in the US economy, those gains began to erode in late 2023, dropping by 2.30% by August 2025. During the same period, college-educated men with young children saw their participation rate in the workplace rise by 0.31%. This is puzzling. Because just when we thought that women were unstoppable (remember, they're the majority in colleges, law schools, and medical schools), they're instead losing ground. What is going on?"
U.S. female labor force participation declined notably, with over 600,000 women exiting in the last year and the participation rate falling from 57.7% to 56.9%. The male-female participation gap rose by the largest amount since the 1950s. A KPMG study finds the decline driven primarily by college-educated women with young children, whose participation fell 2.30% by August 2025 while similarly educated men with young children increased participation by 0.31%. Employer insistence on in-office attendance rather than hybrid or remote flexibility is cited as a major factor. High-profile cultural signals of domestic prioritization are noted alongside these workforce trends.
#female-labor-force-participation #college-educated-mothers #return-to-office-policies #gender-participation-gap
Read at Above the Law
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