66.6% of U.S. women who gave birth in the previous 12 months were in the labor force

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The percentage of women who recently gave birth and remained part of the workforce reached a decade-plus high-water mark last year, per new census data.

Motherhood often knocks women out of the labor force, at least temporarily — slowing their career and earnings growth and contributing to the gender pay gap.

66.6% of U.S. women who gave birth in the previous 12 months were in the labor force as of 2022, per the latest American Community Survey.

That’s compared with 66.5% in 2021, and 61.6% in 2010.

Remote and flexible work is making it easier for new moms to juggle both parenting and their careers, Axios’ Emily Peck has reported. (In fact, the workplace gender gap is at a record low.)

That’s true for new dads, too — but women tend to bear the brunt of work/life priority changes brought on by parenthood.

One complicating factor in all of this: the skyrocketing cost of child care, which is driven in part by a lack of supply and low caretaker pay.

As care gets more expensive, more and more families are put in the difficult position of deciding whether it makes sense for both parents to work, or for one to stay home and watch the kids.

Often, it’s mothers who wind up staying home — in part because they likely make less to begin with.

More mothers are working than ever before