I remember it as if it were yesterday. Some things just never leave you and you recall them for all of your life. I remember the smells of hot food on the stove when I walked in the door after school. One of my favorites was baked sweet potatoes. My mother would bake a cookie sheet full and we would have them for a snack when we came. Sometimes it would be hot biscuits with butter or gravy. We loved it.

My mother worked odd shifts on and off when I was a child. I vividly recall, if  I knew she would be there when I got home from school, I couldn’t wait to get there. If I knew she would be working, I would have been in no hurry and took my time getting home. That’s when I decided that when I had children, I wanted to be there when they came home from school. Thankfully, I was able to do that when my children were young. I don’t regret a minute of it.

I have been reading with interest the stories of many women leaving the work force. Much of it is Covid related. Forced to stay home with children through much of the lock down, families have started to rethink priorities. Of course, it’s mostly mothers who have decided to make changes. 

Women are leaving the workplace in alarming numbers. Currently there are nearly 3 million fewer women working than before the pandemic, according to CBS News. A survey by the U.S. Census Bureau in March, finds that 80% of those who have left the workforce are women. An even more alarming statistic, of those remaining one in three is considering leaving.  

There is story after story of women who have now left the workplace and decided to stay home. I found it interesting that many of these women have husbands who have relocated, for various reasons, to a lower cost of living area. These families have found that they can do without the extra income by reducing their budget. (Too bad the government can’t learn that lesson)

There was hope that with schools reopening, women would be returning to work. It hasn’t happened. Many women have decided that at least for now, they aren’t returning anytime soon.  

One young mother explained that she had convinced herself that her children loved their nanny and loved their teachers. They were doing just fine. She started working from home, during Covid, and realized how much the children wanted and needed her there. She also realized how badly she wanted to be there with them. She gave up a lucrative job as a lawyer in a powerful firm. There are many stories like this explaining why the workforce for women is shrinking.

Consistently polls have shown that the majority of working mothers would prefer to stay home if given the choice. Even 39% of working women without children would prefer to be a homemaker. I found that interesting.

The percentage of stay at home parents has risen 60% since the pandemic started. Mississippi is number one for stay at home parents, followed by Delaware and Texas. At the bottom of the list are Iowa, Minnesota and Maine. The survey doesn’t specify but we know that the stay at home parent is usually Mom.

In 1967, 49 percent of mothers were stay at home Moms. That number continued dropping through the decades. By 2000, only 23% of mothers were stay at home mothers. That number started slowly rising again, and the pandemic caused it to skyrocket. 

Feminists are not happy with this development. If they had a panic button, they would be striking it hard. Many of these women, opting out of the workforce, are high level corporate leaders. These women have decided they no longer want to sacrifice to move up the ladder. 

There is no doubt that women are an asset in the workplace. We have many talents and abilities that will not be of benefit if we are no longer present. However, feminism has never taken into consideration that women are capable of making decisions for themselves. Women will decide what is best for their families and for themselves. Most really don’t care what the feminist movement thinks about those decisions.