Women are leaving the workforce, spurred on by President Donald Trump’s sweeping federal overhaul. Rates have been trending downward since 2023, sparked first by COVID measures winding down but now fueled by the White House and a weakening job market. According to a new study by KPMG, the worst hit are college-educated mothers with children under five. Employment here dropped to 77 percent in August, down from nearly 80 percent in 2023. Mothers without bachelor’s degrees with kids under five have been the second worst off, down one point. Women in the workforce are suffering under Trump, as The New York Times reported Wednesday, pointing to the planned defunding of the Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau. Federal cuts have disproportionately affected departments that have a higher proportion of female employees, such as the Department of Education. Meanwhile, this week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth disbanded an advisory committee that encouraged women to join the armed forces. Federal changes are set against pre-existing trends. Stricter stances surrounding returns to the office after COVID, as well as the end of federal relief funding for child care support, sent rates the wrong way after the pandemic era. As it stands, the rate of women in the workforce remains higher than pre-pandemic levels, but it’s dropping. Axios reports that the U.S. is around 100,000 child care workers short of meeting demand. A lack of childcare tracks with more women staying out of the workforce.
Read it at KPMG
