Mothers’ Careers Are at Extraordinary Risk Right Now

Being a mother has long been a liability at work. But with work, school, and child care now happening under one roof for so many families, working mothers are at unprecedented risk of experiencing a pandemic-size motherhood penalty.

The struggle faced by working mothers is a key focus of the new 2020 Women in the Workplace Report by LeanIn.org and McKinsey & Company, which I co-authored. The report on the state of women in corporate America surveyed more than 300 companies and more than 40,000 employees in professional jobs from the entry level to the C-suite. It found that not only are mothers doing way more at home than fathers during the pandemic, but mothers are also more than twice as likely as fathers to worry that their performance is being judged negatively because of their caregiving responsibilities. A vice president interviewed for the report described her concern this way:

“I also worry that my performance is being judged because