42% of women are leaving the workforce over lack of caregiver support

In 2024, then-Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called on employers to better support working parents. But a year and a half later, new data suggests that caregivers (especially women) are still under pressure.

Roughly half a million women in the US exited the workforce in 2025, and 42% of those who voluntarily left cited their caregiving responsibilities as the main reason, according to a recent survey from Catalyst. As employers restrict flexible work options and cut back on hiring, women appear to be bearing the brunt of the changing economic situation.

Of the women who voluntarily left their jobs over the past year, 37% said that their employers did not offer flexible work schedules.

Sheila Brassel, lead researcher at Catalyst, told HR Brew that even though career opportunities for women have improved over the past several decades, the impact on caregivers “is not getting better.”

“After 60 years of incremental progress for women at work, we’re seeing these rollbacks in women’s full participation in the workforce,” she said, noting that women are caregivers across their careers, often transitioning from childcare to elder care. “Our data clearly shows that women are not necessarily opting out of the workforce…It’s rather that they’re torn between these caregiving responsibilities and these rigid work schedules.”

US federal law does not currently mandate paid family and medical leave, despite some national efforts, and less than 30% of US workers have access to family leave through their employer. With or without paid leave, caregivers, who make up more than half the US workforce, need more flexibility in their roles to carry out their responsibilities.

Just one in four organizations provide hybrid work options to all employees, and 47% of workers are job hugging because of a flexible work arrangement, according to a recent survey of HR leaders by Robert Half. Without employer-provided caregiver support systems, women will not have the tools they need to fully show up in their careers, which could impact their productivity and job satisfaction.

“It leaves them feeling devalued,” Brassel said of the impact that the lack of support has on caregiver employees. “If organizations are willing to put into practice the ways of working to allow for everyone to show up as their full selves and thrive, but I think we can’t afford to lose sight of what’s needed to really shift things here.”