Melinda Gates: This pandemic has exposed our nation’s broken caregiving system.

The coronavirus has laid bare what was painfully clear to many families already: The caregiving system in the United States is broken, and it is women who are paying the price.

Even before the pandemic began, child-care and long-term care solutions were often unaffordable and inaccessible, and women were filling the gaps at tremendous cost to their own economic potential.

Now, with child-care centers closed, schools operating remotely, and families caring for sick adults and aging parents at home, what was previously untenable has become almost impossible — especially for single mothers, essential workers, and others working low-wage jobs with unpredictable hours.

Recent jobs reports paint a grim picture of an economy that is hemorrhaging jobs held by women (865,000 in September alone), some of whom may never return to the workforce. A survey by the Lean In organization and the McKinsey consulting firm found that a staggering 1 in 4 women is considering downshifting their careers or leaving their jobs because of the pandemic.

Read more here from the Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/…/7c0dd9ae-34d1-11eb…