Nearly 12 million women left their jobs in the wake of the pandemic, including some of our listeners.

I worked the last 20 years in the healthcare industry until I left in May of 2020.

I'm from hairstylist in March of 2020.

The shutdown happened and daycars were for essential workers only and hair salons were closed.

What made it difficult for me to return was that my husband was a physician working nonstop during the pandemic.

And we live in a city where I have virtually no family, so I had no childcare

because my in-home daycare shut down as a result of the state restrictions.

You know, from March to November, the kids continue to be in virtual school.

My husband did go back to the office, so it was just me continuing to

have the same stress and craziness on a day-to-day basis.

And that caused a lot of stress and made me not be the person and the mother that I wanted to show up for my family.

Three years after millions of women disappeared from the workforce, where are they now?

Back to work or out for good?

Welcome to the journal, our show about money, business and power.

I'm Ryan Knutzen. It's Thursday, March 30th.

Coming up on the show, where the pandemic is meant for women and their jobs.

The scientists of today are creating the next big thing.

On the Wall Street Journal's Future of Everything podcast, get an early

listen to what tomorrow has in store. Find us wherever you get your podcasts.

Most economic downturns are so-called man sessions, meaning they affect more men than women.

But when millions were laid off in 2020 due to the pandemic, it was a different story.

It had a disproportionate effect on women, partly because of the nature of the jobs that were

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