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78 Wash. & Lee L. Rev. Online 1 (2021)

handle is hein.journals/waleelro78 and id is 1 raw text is: Working While Mothering During the
Pandemic and Beyond
Nicole Buonocore Porter*
Abstract
Although combining work and family has never been easy
for women, working while mothering during the pandemic was
close to impossible. When COVID-19 caused most workplaces to
shut down, many women were laid off. But many women were
forced to work from home alongside their children, who could not
attend daycare or school. Mothers tried valiantly to combine a
full day's work on top of caring for young children and helping
school-aged children with remote school. But many found this
balance   difficult, leading   to  women's lowest     workforce
participation rate in over forty years. And even women who did
not quit nevertheless suffered workplace consequences from
logging many fewer work hours than before the pandemic. The
exact magnitude of this toll, in terms of costs and careers, will
not be known for years, if ever. This Article explores the
challenges working mothers faced during the pandemic and
sketches an outline of what solutions might have mitigated the
difficulties during the pandemic and could make a difference in
the lives of working mothers moving forward.
* Distinguished University Professor and Professor of Law, University
of Toledo College of Law. I would like to thank the University of Idaho for
inviting me to their symposium that prompted me to put some of these
thoughts into writing. I would also like to thank Alia Kadri, a former student
whose research paper in the fall of 2020 helped with Section II.A.5 on working
from home as a possible accommodation for individuals with disabilities.
Thank you to the University of Toledo College of Law for summer research
support. And as always, thanks to Bryan Lammon, for everything.

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