Another “female recession” is looming: women are leaving the job market at an alarming rate.

A frightening trend is emerging in the job market: women are dropping out of the U.S. workforce at some of the highest levels in history.

An estimated 455,000 women left the workforce between January and August of this year, a period when the overall labor force remained relatively stable, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Only the pandemic led to a larger exodus during this period, according to BLS records dating back to 1948.

Economists are sounding the alarm: if the losses continue, they not only risk being erased the historic progress made by women in recent years but it also risks stifling American economic growth.

“It diminishes the current and potential growth of the economy,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at KPMG. “You want an economy that has as many people as possible who want to have their hat in the ring and their talents. It’s not a zero-sum game. It’s not about men or women. We need everyone. We need all hands on deck.”

In the years before the pandemic, the labor force participation rate of working-age women (25-54) increased faster than that of their male counterparts.

There were several main reasons for this shift: fast-growing sectors, such as healthcare and caregiving, were predominantly female-dominated; the educational level of women has increased considerably; and women have made greater inroads into traditionally male-dominated fields, such as construction, agriculture, repair and maintenance.

Then came the pandemic, which left 21.9 million people unemployed, 55% of them women. The labor force participation rate of working-age women fell by more than 3 percentage points to 73.5% in just one month. (Participation rates generally change very modestly, increasing or decreasing by only a few tenths of a percentage point over the years.)

But as the economy recovered over the following months, the rebound has been slow for women – so much so that this period has been called a “recession for women,” as female workers suffered higher unemployment rates and worse employment outcomes than men.

The pandemic has hit female-dominated sectors; rising costs and labor shortages in the child care sector have hampered mothers’ ability to return to work; and women, who usually shoulder caregiving responsibilities, remained at home to care for their aging parents and relatives.

“After the pandemic, we finally saw women come back in droves, and part of that was due to hybrid (arrangements) and working from home, and that allowed women to work in a way that they could re-enter the workforce,” Swonk said.

Mature women turnout reached an all-time high of 78.4% last year. However, in recent months, participation has hovered around 77.7%.

“We finally, after decades, surpassed the peak that we reached in 2000. It took a hiring spree and hybrid labor to get us back up and past that level, which is staggering and a little sad, because we’re lagging behind other major developed economies,” Swonk said.

The factors causing this decline are multiple and several are systemic in nature.

There is the big problem: Child care and preschool costs continue to rise. Some operators in this industry are in “sinister financial constraints” Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have discovered this. Low funding and poor wages contributed to the labor shortage (now even more exacerbated by immigration cuts) as well as “child care deserts”. The burden of costs is instead placed on families, who often find the prospects too costly.

“Women with children under five are driving the exodus from the workforce; and that’s important, because what we’re seeing is that women with a (bachelor’s degree) or higher and with children under five are leaving the workforce at twice the rate of others,” Swonk said. “Many very highly skilled, highly skilled, highly educated workers are now leaving the workforce altogether. »

Disruption due to lack of childcare comes at a significant financial cost to businesses, she added.

Additionally, when women take time out of the workforce, not only are their lifetime earnings disrupted, but the negative financial impacts can be generational, she said.

“Historically, when women provide for their families, their children also do better; so what we worry about is the long-term scarring from the loss of resources for their children,” she said.

Elsewhere, return-to-office mandates have removed flexible work arrangements for some employees. THE rise of AI coupled with a a slow and anemic job market has put pressure on white-collar and customer-facing sectors.

The second largest cohort leaving the workforce is Black womenSwonk said.

“When the economy weakens, marginalized groups tend to be hit harder,” she said. “The slowdown in supply and demand for workers is happening in tandem, but it’s harder for groups that don’t have a cushion of wealth or the same means as other groups.”

And then there were policy changes at the federal level: President Donald Trump took steps such as slashing the ranks of America’s public sector (where women, especially black women, are heavily employed) and roll back equality of opportunity and efforts related to diversity, equity and inclusion.

“The administration’s attack on public sector employment is played out by the place of women in the workforce,” said Michelle Holder, associate professor of economics at John Jay College of the City University of New York. “There have also been policy proposals from the administration, either overtly or less subtly, encouraging women to leave the workforce and focus on home and family.”

The White House, in response to a question from CNN, highlighted recent efforts to support women, such as creating investment accounts for newborns and expanding the Child Tax Credit, Employer-Provided Child Care Credit and Dependent Care Assistance Plan.

“President Trump has a proven track record of building an economy that benefits all Americans, including women, and he is implementing the same economic agenda that produced historically low unemployment rates during his first term,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers wrote in an emailed statement. “President Trump is promoting a vibrant economy that creates opportunity for all Americans, including his Tax Cuts for Working Families bill, which spurs economic growth, lowers costs, provides flexibility for families, and promotes generational success. »

For women who have left the workforce this year, their experiences are very nuanced, as CNN interviews with more than two dozen women show.

Some decisions have been easy: workplaces have become discriminatory, toxic, inflexible, sexist or ageist; or life, health or family turned out to be much more important.

A female executive with two young children eventually burned out after juggling her family life and management responsibilities.

A former Army JAG and longtime federal attorney ultimately couldn’t pass up the U.S. government’s second “crossroads” offer because her ailing father’s health worsened.

Other decisions haven’t been easy: Dream jobs landed after years of climbing the ladder abruptly disappeared due to broader macroeconomic issues, loss of funding, or unexpected family developments.

A first-time mother left the job she loved because the cost of child care three days a week exceeded the cost of the monthly mortgage.

“I put everything I had into this job; I gave them everything and I feel like I’m the most experienced and competent I’ve ever been,” said Katharine Ransom-DiCerbo, 35, who left her job at a nonprofit earlier this year. “But my mental and physical health deteriorated to the point where I couldn’t go back.”

“Perhaps we have been placed in situations where the demands of work have become so great that we are not able to take care of ourselves, our families or grow our families,” she added.