- Some of the earliest jobs lost

during the COVID 19 pandemic

were in restaurants,salons, hotels, retail,

all industries dominated by women.

Then just as the economy began to reopen,

schools remained closed,

keeping children athome to learn virtually

and forcing parents to make it work.

- I was then working fromhome and also being a teacher.

So I'm homeschoolingfour different children,

helping them, managingdifferent learning styles,

helping them get what they need

while trying to still progressin my professional career.

- [Caitlin] That becameunsustainable for Danyae Thomas,

who chose to quit her job asa director for a nonprofit

and focus full-time on her family.

Thomas is among nearly 900,000 women

who left the workforce in September,

right as the school year began.

- Every mom, every person period

has to make difficult decisions.

But when a mother sees thatthings have to shift quickly,

we kind of just step inand we make it happen.

I knew that I wasn't gonna be able

to go full throttle in my career

and then full throttle, asnow I'm a teacher again.

- [Caitlin] One potentialdownside for Thomas

is that according to aWashington Post analysis,

mothers of school aged children

are taking longer toreenter the workforce.

Economists fear this couldhave long-term consequences

for working women.

The authors of a report publishedby Northwestern University

state that not only will it take longer

for these women to find work,

they also will find it harder

to get jobs comparable totheir previous positions.

Researchers conclude that could result

in decades of women earning less.

Meanwhile, this pandemicis also weighing heavy

on mothers who areworking outside the home.

- I'm a manager.

My position, I helped takecare of sick children all day.

I was like and then I have to go home

and I still have to teach fine

and try to be a motherto my eight month old

and then be a teacher to my first grader

and my seventh grader

and then try to be a wife to my husband.

The stress and anxietywere literally starting

to give me chest pains.

- [Caitlin] Dawn Martin returned to work

from maternity leave in August.

Then only a month later,

she found out her two older children

would be learning from home.

- Going back into the workforce

and then finding outthat our state's still,

and then our county weren'tgonna open our schools back up

then the risk and everythingelse were going up

and I was like, how amI supposed to help them?

How are we supposed to teachthem with their teachers?

If we have to be at work at the same time.

- [Caitlin] Staying home,

isn't an optionfinancially for her family.

So Martin often finds herself

helping with school assignments

from work, at nights and on weekends.

Her limitations weigh heaviest

when she sees her children struggling.

- It really hurts as a parent

when you have to ground your child

because you know, ifthey were going to school

they'd be in class,they'd be participating.

They wouldn't have delayed assignment.

So you wouldn't have the tardiness

and our oldest went froman arbitral test deeds,

- Many economists statepriority number one

needs to be getting kids back in school.

They're pushing Congressto pass another stimulus

with cheques specificallyfor parents with children,

hoping to provide some financial cushion

to help pay for daycareor private schooling.

Caitlin Burke, CBN news.