08/07/2025

Why So Many Women are Quitting the Workforce

Workers have seen flexibility revoked in 2025 on a large scale

It's a stark number: 212,000. That’s how many women ages 20 and over have left the workforce since January, according to the most recent jobs numbers released August 1 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). By contrast, 44,000 men have entered the workforce since January. The numbers show a reversal of recent trends that saw more women, especially women with children, finding and keeping full-time jobs.

Data show that between January and June, labor force participation rate of women ages 25 to 44 living with a child under five fell nearly three percentage points, from 69.7 percent to 66.9 percent, said Misty Lee Heggeness, an associate professor of economics and public affairs at the University of Kansas. It's a big reversal. The participation of those women had soared in 2022, 2023 and 2024, peaking in January 2025, as flexible work policies helped women join the workforce and generate much-needed income for their families.

Workers have seen flexibility revoked in 2025 on a large scale. President Donald Trump ordered federal employees back to the office five days a week in January, though many had negotiated remote work arrangements and some had even moved far away from their offices. Amazon, JP Morgan, and AT&T also returned to five days a week policies in 2025. Overall, full-time in-office requirements among Fortune 500 companies jumped to 24 percent in the second quarter of 2025, up from 13 percent in the end of 2024, according to the Flex Index, which tracks remote work policies.

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