Working Women: 5 to 9 & 9 to 5 & 5 to 9?

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Guest Blog: Jillian Pressnall is Garrett’s sister and our daughter. She is a wife, mother and practicing lawyer in Seattle, WA. She is our guest author and digs into the primal scream underlying how many working women are feeling today.

What It’s About: The pandemic has taken a significant toll on the mental health of working moms in particular. As a lawyer and a mom to a teenager and a toddler, both of whom have been learning from home for the past 11 months, I recognize the need of so many mothers to literally scream, but I could never risk it as I regularly work at 4 a.m. trying to meet everyone’s needs and if I wake them up, I couldn’t get the work done.

Speaking with hundreds of other working moms on a regular basis, we are all struggling as we face impossible decisions. How do we balance the needs of our employers or our clients with the needs of our children? How do we ensure that we do not lose the momentum we have worked so hard to build in our careers at a time when we also have no options for childcare or schooling? What if we have a high-risk family member or a special needs child? Suddenly, keeping our children safe and healthy on a daily basis is dramatically different than what we faced before. At the same time, each of these women, who continue to be fortunate enough to be employed, recognize that is a privilege as well. The guilt, fear, stress, and lack of sleep continues to build and there is no defined end in sight.

So What?: History will tell the true impact of the pandemic. However, as we wait our turn for the vaccine, wonder whether it is truly safe to allow our kids to return to school or daycare, and attempt to juggle all the balls, the mental health of working mothers has been significantly impacted. What does it say about us as a nation to have no answers as to how to keep women employed, keep children fed, and keep families cared for as we navigate this unprecedented time? As a nation, we have to do better for all of our citizens.

Women have disproportionately been impacted by the pandemic, losing jobs at a higher rate than their male counterparts. The U.S Bureau of Labor and Statistics reported that in December 2020 alone, while women lost 156,000 jobs, men actually gained 16,000 jobs. As a result, women will lose social security income, retirement funds, and potentially face significant setbacks in their careers.

Women in the workforce benefits everyone. It is estimated that it will cost the economy $341 billion to have disenfranchised women during the pandemic.

Now What?: Beyond providing opportunities for women to seek mental health treatment as the pandemic continues, solutions are necessary to help women recover economically. This will require both employers and the government to take action. We can pass the equal rights amendment and to consider what other legislation is required to ensure that women, particularly women of color, are protected from discrimination, pay discrepancy, and workforce inequity. Employers need to evaluate their systems and assess whether they have implemented a structure that combats occupational segregation and workforce inequality. Diversity has immense value and makes companies stronger, more effective and more adaptive.

Further, Covid has highlighted the inadequate childcare and education system. We have an extraordinary opportunity to revise these systems, to provide high quality and cost-effective options for childcare and education in this nation. In doing so, we would narrow the gap between the sexes and provide greater opportunities for everyone.

Working mothers should not be left to primarily scream into the void.

For more ideas and information on how Covid has impacted women and areas in need of change, click here.

- Jillian K. Pressnall

Working Women: 5 to 9 & 9 to 5 & 5 to 9?

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