The end of pandemic-era subsidies threatens to unwind much of the progress made in pushing the women’s labor-force participation rate to a record.
Sarah Green Carmichael is a Bloomberg Opinion editor. Previously, she was managing editor of ideas and commentary at Barron’s and an executive editor at Harvard Business Review.
The clock is ticking.
Photographer: Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Pandemic-era subsidies propping up US childcare providers expire on Sept. 30. About three million children could lose their spots, leading some to call this a “ child care cliff.” Women’s participation in the labor force, which is at an all-time high, may fall right off with it.
Instead of a sharp, sudden drop, it’s more likely to be a protracted slide that extends the pain. So rather than an immediate economic disruption of the kind that demands policy action, here’s how my Bloomberg Opinion colleague Kathryn Edwards describes the coming fallout: “Families will internalize the cost of child care the way they have for years: by having fewer children and working less.” For employers, the “working less” part of the equation should ring an alarm bell.
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The Child Care ‘Cliff’ Is Upon Us. Look Out Below.