California’s economy is failing women. Here’s why we need workplace reform

Since the coronavirus began its rampage, with most schools unable to stay open, women have been torn from the workforce. In December, women accounted for 100% of job losses across the country. That month, 154,000 Black women left the labor force — the largest one-month drop among that group since the pandemic began.

The consequences have been severe in California, where nearly 45% of the workforce last year filed for unemployment insurance. Meanwhile, many women are still juggling their jobs and a disproportionate share of domestic responsibilities. Women are also much more likely to care for sick family members. And when women, especially single mothers, fall ill, the burdens can become unbearable.

The lack of support from businesses and the government has exposed the need for fundamental changes in a system that still can’t seem to decide if women are second-class citizens or superheroes. Spoiler: we’re neither.

But the truth is that even before the COVID-19 crisis, the role of women in the workplace needed a reckoning. As women’s financial responsibilities have steadily grown over decades — in 2017, 41% of mothers were the sole or primary breadwinners for their families — we’ve continued to be the default caregivers as well. This arrangement is not sustainable without an infrastructure that recognizes women’s multi-layered contributions to societal well-being.

Now, with the peak of the coronavirus hopefully behind us, it is time for the public and private sectors to begin rethinking their roles in promoting public health and prosperity by providing greater support to women and families.

California, a pioneer in women’s rights, should lead the way in reimagining the workplace in the post-pandemic era. Since the turn of the century, we’ve adopted some of the nation’s most progressive laws protecting women in the workplace, a number of which I authored during my time as a state senator. These included requiring equal pay for women, requiring corporate boards to include women, creating meaningful programs of paid and job-protected family leave and ensuring harassment-free workplaces.

The next evolution of reforms must enable women to flourish professionally, without sacrificing their well-being or the needs of their children. Making the workplace work for families isn’t just the right thing to do — it’s necessary for California’s economy to remain strong and for our businesses to remain competitive.

In its heyday, Silicon Valley famously lured prospective employees with on-campus perks like afternoon beer bashes and gourmet cafeterias, but those benefits are quickly losing their luster as remote work becomes the new reality. To keep recruiting and retaining top employees, California companies will have to think differently. Remaining vital in a post-pandemic economy might mean replacing roving snack carts with flexible childcare schedules and benefits. I’d wager that more employees will choose to work at a company that offers extra weeks of maternity and paternity leave than one with on-site dry cleaning.

While corporations should lead the way on family-centric reforms, California can’t rely on a white-collar approach to revive our economy. The state legislature should take swift action to help small business owners, hourly workers and others who are often left behind attain financial stability while being able to care for their children and families.

California should provide free universal preschool. It should expand access to quality, free or low-cost early care and education for children up to three years old as well. Just as important, childcare should be offered during non-traditional hours to accommodate the legions of employees — predominantly our lowest-paid workers — who don’t work nine to five.

The state should also expand its paid family leave laws so that families don’t experience extreme economic hardship just for having children. Right now parents who take time off to care for their newborns receive between 55% and 75% of their weekly salaries. But most workers don’t make enough as is, so they can’t afford to take reduced salaries. As a result, many new parents don’t even take the permitted time off to care for and bond with their babies.

To remedy this inequity that disrupts child development, California should not only boost the paid family leave reimbursement, we should also adopt a sliding scale so that our lowest-paid workers can receive up to 100% of their regular pay. After all, they’re the ones who most likely lack the savings to offset the reduced income.

The pandemic has shown us both how vulnerable and how resilient we are. It has also revealed how much we rely on women, at work and at home, to keep us safe and strong. It’s time we start making it easier, not more difficult, for women to take care of themselves and their families. California women deserve better. Our families deserve better. And frankly, our state’s economic future demands it.