How women know it’s time for a career pivot and what your company can do.

The pandemic left many women with little choice but to exit the workforce, as daycares shut their doors and low-wage workers lost their jobs. In the years since, women have entered the workforce in record numbers, but they continue to face many of the same challenges—working mothers in particular.

In the past year, the share of women in the workforce has slipped again.

There are a number of reasons for this: Many employers have insisted on their workers returning to the office, reversing remote work policies that had secured flexibility for working parents and enabled many women to remain in the workforce. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has targeted and undercut the federal funding that helps many childcare providers make ends meet, which in turn allows many parents to keep working.

In this environment, there are some things employers can do to truly support working mothers, even amid the structural challenges they’re up against. Read on to learn how your company can provide more flexibility to working parents, offer meaningful benefits like childcare subsidies, and facilitate a smooth reentry for employees who return from parental leave.