Working moms take more time off than dads to care for kids during the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed countless stressors on many families. Among those is the “motherhood penalty” felt by working moms who must rearrange schedules to meet child care needs. And there is a clear imbalance between the reduced hours of moms versus dads to meet these needs.

Cassandra Cotton, an assistant professor in the T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics, discussed the latest study about this with KJZZ’s Kathy Ritchie.

According to Cotton, this imbalance could lead to more working mothers losing their jobs or being passed over for promotions as a result of their reduced work hours.

"We're likely to see echo effects of the pandemic on working moms' labor force participation and their mobility through the ranks in the future,” said Cotton. “Coupled with the fact that women — particularly women of color — already experience a penalty relative to men, this may have really profound impacts on moms' employment trajectories."