The glass ceiling is as pernicious as ever. Here’s how we can bring women back to work

Pre-pandemic, unemployment was at a 50-year low, and a large share of the job gains were going to women. This accounted for the best labor participation rate since 1999, as higher wages and better career prospects enticed more women to join the workforce.

When the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, its inequitable toll on women disrupted their advancement. As the tangential effects of the health crisis wiped out job growth, a slew of burdens fell heavily on women. Not only were women concentrated in some of the hardest-hit sectors, from leisure and hospitality to health and education, they faced new family responsibilities with limited support.

Women juggled managing their kids at home while simultaneously caring for elder family members. They were navigating uncharted waters while trying to remain afloat.

Earlier in the pandemic, when many schools and daycare facilities closed for in-person instruction, we saw women leave the workforce at four times the rate of men. In fact, data from ADP, where I am an economist, shows women made gains in closing the pay gap this past year (82% from 80% a year ago), but at the cost of low-income job losses, which overly inflates improvement and represents a false narrative.

While women universally faced extra hurdles, low-income women took the biggest hit. Any soft infrastructure support they had pre-pandemic collapsed, exacerbating existing barriers. Employers now face the challenge of bringing women back into a workforce that has historically lacked in childcare and eldercare support.

Address foundational barriers

A decline in employment for women during the summer months has roots that reach back pre-pandemic. There is a cyclical yearly decline in women’s share of employment relative to men’s in the middle of the year. This decline is especially pronounced for lower-income women. One likely reason is that daycare and after-school programs may not be available during the summer months or have become more expensive and less reliable or convenient. Lack of affordable childcare options during the summer could force women to “voluntarily” leave the workforce, at least temporarily. For higher-earning women, this effect disappears. Conversely, job gains relative to men occur in every month and accelerate at year end.

As the economy recovers, this fall becomes a pivotal point for women. To entice women to join the workforce, they need access to affordable childcare. They need wages and benefits to offset that spend and effective support structures in place to help low-income workers manage the myriad demands on their time and resources, from rental assistance and safe transportation to on-site daycare facilities. As employers heighten their focus on the health and wellbeing of their employees, progress is being made; but more needs to be done to establish wellness programs for employees and childcare support for families. The rise in acceptance and capacity for remote and flexible work is an important silver lining, and a crucial component in bringing women back into the workforce.

Provide equitable reentry

Addressing foundational barriers will affect how quickly women can rejoin the workforce as businesses reopen. While the pandemic has intensified the experience for women going back to work, it is terrain many have traversed before, following maternity and family leaves—a journey that can often feel like pushing against the current. While it’s a common occurrence, conversations often fall short of discussing how hard it is to come back and the support that is lacking. In the new world of work, skills atrophy quickly, as companies embrace agility and digital transformation. Post-pandemic, the learning curve is steeper still, with many companies having reimagined their operating models and turning to skills-based hiring to continue to update and modernize.

These challenges can undercut the value and experience of women and discourage them from reentry. Employers can help the transition by recognizing transferable skills and initiating programs to support women through training and development.

At the same time companies should be mindful that like blue jeans, there is no one-size-fits-all corporate policy that can accommodate all women. The most effective approach will be a multifaceted one that meets women where they are, with respect to their individual levels and unique challenges, and prepares them for the jobs of tomorrow.

Support women’s mobility

When it comes to pay disparity, we see that even at the top of the corporate ladder, women tend to get paid less bonus and incentive pay. In a global survey of more than 30,000 workers, ADP data showed that while men who reported taking on additional responsibilities due to COVID-19 were likely to get paid more, women were not. These disparities were even more transparent in the U.S. and Canada than the rest of the world. While arguments often point to women self-selecting into lower income roles and industries, the data shows the fallacy: the gender pay gap holds across all seniority levels and industries, from education to finance.

To move forward, it is critical to have a diverse leadership team with women, and all underrepresented groups, at the table. Having women at higher levels gives them a chance to push real change and impact workers across an entire organization. It’s just as essential to lean into data to provide pay transparency and measure and incentivize change. The burden should not rest on the shoulders of women to advocate, but on companies to recognize disparities and close the gaps.

For companies to compete in a complex world, they must also create a better, more equitable workplace where women can thrive from the ground floor to the glass ceiling, and beyond. because their resilience—their power to overcome obstacles, reengage, and affect change—positively impacts the world of work for everyone.

Nela Richardson is the chief economist at ADP.