The American dream is becoming increasingly difficult for many women who are leaving the U.S. workforce, as new data highlights ongoing pressures tied to caregiving costs.
As the rising cost of childcare and eldercare outpaces wage growth, 455,000 women left the labor market between January and August 2025, according to Catalyst, with many citing difficult trade-offs between a paycheck and the high price of professional caregiving.
A recent report from the research group showed that nearly half a million female employees voluntarily left their jobs for various reasons. Forty-two percent cited leaving due to caregiving responsibilities, 37% cited a lack of schedule flexibility, while smaller percentages of those surveyed noted issues with pay dissatisfaction or job market uncertainty.
If businesses and the government do not address caregiving infrastructure, a Catalyst executive warns, the U.S. could face a long-term labor shortage that could drive up service costs.
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“This moment is especially risky. We are at the very tip of this spear, and we can still do something about it,” Catalyst President and CEO Jennifer McCollum told WTOP in Washington, D.C. “When women are leaving the corporate world, or the government world or NGO and nonprofit world en masse, like we’re seeing now, and you combine that with fewer leaders wanting to talk openly about that… we are creating the conditions for a labor market crisis.”
“This research makes clear that women’s workforce exits are not about a lack of ambition or commitment,” McCollum said in the report. “They reflect the reality that too many jobs still fail to account for caregiving responsibilities and economic pressures. If we want to understand why women are leaving, we have to look at how work continues to be structured.”
LendingTree research from November 2025 found that in 100 of the largest U.S. metro areas, the average monthly cost for infant care is 25.3% lower than the cost of rent for a two-bedroom apartment. For families with both an infant and a toddler, childcare costs are 31.5% higher than rent.
Federal data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show women’s labor force participation dropped sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic and has since largely rebounded to near pre-pandemic levels, though surveys from the U.S. Census Bureau indicate ongoing childcare challenges continue to affect workforce participation.
Some employers and policymakers argue that expanding workplace flexibility or government-backed childcare programs comes with trade-offs, including higher costs for businesses and taxpayers. Business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business, have warned that companies are already facing inflation and labor shortages and caution that new mandates could increase employer costs. Meanwhile, Federal Reserve research points to a still-tight labor market and rising labor force participation in recent years — including among women — though economists attribute those trends to multiple factors, including childcare costs, wages and broader economic conditions.
In some of the most expensive markets with the widest care-to-rent price ratios, childcare costs average $1,996 per month.
After accounting for inflation, 18% of those women surveyed who left the workforce couldn’t justify their salary against the rising costs of care.
“Eighteen percent of them said, ‘When I look at the trade-offs between what I have to do from a caregiving responsibility and pay, and the lack of flexibility I have, and the amount of pay that I get, I cannot make this calculus work anymore,'” McCollum also told WTOP.
“Women are not ‘opting out’ — they are leaving because many jobs are not designed around the logistical and financial realities of childcare and women’s lives,” Catalyst research director Sheila Brassel wrote in the study. “Employers that want to bring women back to the workforce and retain top talent need to take action through tangible and meaningful policies that support women’s full participation.”
Catalyst’s data shows that women want to work but are being squeezed by rigid corporate structures and a lack of post-COVID flexibility.
“Re-engaging and retaining women requires addressing caregiving realities, offering schedule flexibility, and ensuring work structures, equal pay, and access to opportunity that allow women not only to return to the workforce, but to thrive there,” Brassel added.
Employers, meanwhile, have faced pressure to balance flexible work policies with operational demands, with some companies scaling back remote work options in recent years.
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