They balanced life and work. Now more women are quitting. Here's why.

For a while, having it all seemed almost possible.

The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in a new era of flexible work schedules and remote and hybrid work arrangements. More women – especially mothers with young kids – found they could juggle full-time jobs with their responsibilities at home, and fewer dropped out of the workforce to care for children and family members.

Then in 2025, more than 455,000 women left the workforce. Now, a national survey casts a light on what drove that decision for many women.

Nearly half of the women who voluntarily left said they did so because of their caregiving responsibilities and the high cost and limited availability of child care, according to a survey from women’s advocacy group Catalyst.

Sheila Brassel, a research director at Catalyst, said women's workforce participation has begun to lag because flexibility in the workplace is vanishing.