The Hidden Workforce Penalty

Former Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins and Eleanor Roosevelt at the 50th anniversary commemoration of the Triangle Fire, March 1961. Source: Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.

This blog post is adapted from a broader research paper I wrote that examines ageism, caregiving responsibilities, workplace discrimination, and workforce participation among single mothers over 50. As a single working mother over 50 myself, I find this research not only academic but deeply personal. It reflects the experiences many women continue to navigate every day.

Frances Perkins

Everyone has heard of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, yet far fewer know the story of Frances Perkins. In The Woman Behind the New Deal, author Kirstin Downey chronicles the life of the woman who became FDR’s Secretary of Labor and the first woman to serve in a U.S. presidential cabinet. Perkins was one of the principal architects behind many of the labor and social welfare protections that reshaped American life during the New Deal era. Her work helped establish policies such as Social Security, unemployment insurance, minimum wage standards, child labor protections, workplace safety reforms, the 40-hour workweek, and broader workers’ rights protections. Much of what Americans now associate with basic labor protections and economic security emerged from the policy vision and relentless advocacy Frances Perkins advanced during one of the most economically unstable periods in U.S. history.

More than ninety years later, many of the workforce challenges Perkins fought to address continue to evolve in new forms. Contemporary workforce conversations often emphasize productivity, employability, technical skills, and labor market competitiveness, yet far less attention is paid to the lived realities that shape how we sustain both work and family responsibilities over time. Among the most overlooked populations within these discussions are single mothers over 50. Our experiences remain largely underexamined within workforce systems and employment policy, despite the growing economic and social pressures we navigate daily.

Unaccounted Demographic

According to the Center for American Progress, there were approximately 7.3 million single mothers in the United States in 2023, representing more than four out of five single-parent households (Salas-Betsch, 2024). Single mothers account for roughly one in five families with children under 18. Although most are employed full-time, many continue to experience persistent financial insecurity. Median annual earnings remain near $40,000, while poverty rates among single mothers remain significantly elevated at approximately 28 percent (Salas-Betsch, 2024). For women over 50, these challenges often intensify as caregiving demands, financial obligations, health considerations, and labor market barriers converge simultaneously.

Caregiving vs. Financial Sustainability

When I became both head of household and the sole wage earner, managing childcare, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, meant something had to give. For many single mothers over 50, employment represents far more than career advancement. It represents survival, stability, access to healthcare, and the ability to sustain a household while caring for others. Maintaining full-time employment while simultaneously managing caregiving responsibilities creates pressures that many workplace systems were never designed to accommodate. Navigating these realities requires constant adaptation, creativity, sacrifice, and compromise. It becomes a continuous process of recalibrating priorities while trying to remain financially stable. Yet despite this reality, single mothers continue to face heightened occupational strain, including financial stress, inflexible workplace structures, limited institutional support, and elevated emotional exhaustion (Weitoft, Haglund, & Rosén, 2000).

Age Discrimination

Questions surrounding sustainability inevitably bring age discrimination to the forefront, further complicating workforce participation and career mobility for women over 50. Older women are frequently perceived as less adaptable, less technologically capable, or more costly to employ due to assumptions surrounding health, productivity, or workplace accommodations. Economist David Neumark (2022) argues that while laws such as the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) may help reduce discriminatory terminations, they are far less effective at addressing hiring discrimination because identifying exclusionary practices within hiring systems remains considerably more difficult. Too often, we are quickly categorized as outdated or irrelevant. What is often unrecognized, however, is that many women in this demographic bring decades of cumulative experience, resilience, patience, institutional knowledge, and nuanced problem-solving capabilities developed over years of balancing work, caregiving, crisis management, and adaptation.

The Motherhood Penalty

Why are women continually penalized for responsibilities that society itself depends upon?

Research surrounding the “motherhood penalty” demonstrates that caregiving responsibilities continue to negatively affect wages, occupational standing, promotion opportunities, and long-term career trajectories (Kahn et al., 2014). When I chose to prioritize my son’s care, it required reducing my hours and transitioning to part-time work. That decision also meant stepping away from the executive fast track and, in many ways, writing myself out of traditional career progression models. I understood that these cumulative disruptions would affect my long-term earning potential, retirement security, and occupational mobility.

Many women experience similar interruptions, such as reduced hours, career pauses, or transitions to less demanding roles, to sustain caregiving responsibilities. Over time, these decisions push career progression later into life while simultaneously compressing the timeline available to recover financially and professionally. At the same time, shifting retirement realities create additional pressure.

Although Social Security was originally designed to provide economic security in later life, full retirement age thresholds continue to move farther outward. For many women who have already experienced interrupted earnings, caregiving-related career gaps, and limited retirement accumulation, the prospect of working into their late sixties or seventies becomes less a choice and more a financial necessity. The expectation to work longer only intensifies the stress placed upon older working mothers already balancing caregiving, health concerns, and economic survival.

Mental and Emotional Strain

Beyond financial instability, few issues impact older working mothers more than prolonged mental and emotional strain. According to AARP (2022), nearly two-thirds of women over 50 report experiencing some form of workplace discrimination, increasing vulnerability to chronic stress, anxiety, and depression. The constant pressure to balance caregiving obligations alongside employment demands often produces sustained emotional exhaustion, particularly for women navigating these challenges without substantial institutional or familial support systems. Part-time employment and inconsistent access to healthcare further reduce access to mental health resources and long-term wellness support, compounding the strain many women already carry silently.

Workforce Policy

Much of contemporary workforce policy continues to focus heavily on skills training, credential attainment, and employability outcomes. While these areas remain important, they often fail to address the broader structural conditions shaping workforce participation among older single mothers. Therefore, policies that support caregiving flexibility and work-life sustainability are essential to improving workforce outcomes for older women. The World Economic Forum (2022) highlights the importance of reducing the “motherhood penalty” and addressing systemic barriers contributing to gender-based wage disparities. Similarly, McKinsey & Company (2023) argues that flexible work arrangements and stronger caregiver support systems improve retention, advancement, and long-term workforce sustainability for women balancing employment and caregiving responsibilities.

Solutions

The Center for American Progress (2024) notes that antipoverty initiatives, refundable tax credits, and broader economic support systems remain essential for reducing financial hardship among single mothers. AARP (2023) further emphasizes that the absence of guaranteed paid sick leave in the United States disproportionately affects caregivers who must continuously balance employment responsibilities with personal or family health needs. Without adequate protections, many women face an impossible choice between maintaining employment and caring for themselves or their loved ones.

More importantly, workforce solutions can no longer focus solely on preparing women for employment. They must also examine whether the structure of work itself allows working mothers over 50 to sustain stable, dignified, and economically secure lives. The question is no longer simply whether people can work, but whether modern workforce systems are designed in ways that allow people to endure, care, age, and remain economically secure across the realities of life itself.

While this blog was written narrowly in scope by design, the themes are applicable to all women across cultures and geography.

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