More workers are returning to the office. Mothers may end up paying the price

– Inflexible work. Labor Day marked a turning point in the U.S. return-to-office tug-of-war, with office occupancy rates spiking more than 50% in the weeks following the public holiday this year, according to new data from security provider Kastle Systems. 

That’s good news for the bosses who have been clamoring to get their workers back in person. But it could make life more difficult for caretakers—particularly women—who relied on the flexibility of working from home to juggle all of their responsibilities. 

The benefits of remote work for women have been well-documented (though you probably don’t need reports and experts to explain them to you). It is credited with keeping more prime-age women in the labor force, and may help decrease workplace sexual assault and harassment. 

It also led to a higher rate of women becoming or trying to get pregnant, a recent report from the bipartisan advocacy organization Economic Innovation Group found. “Increased flexibility and time helped boost birth rates over the pandemic, specifically for wealthier or more educated women,” the report reads. Makes sense. It’s much easier to balance work and family obligations when you don’t have to worry about commuting or sitting in an overly-air conditioned cubicle all day.

There are also the financial implications of RTO, like buying new office attire. The pink tax wasn’t repealed during the pandemic; women still pay more than men, on average, for clothes, makeup, accessories, and so on. 

Now all of those benefits are at risk of reversing as workplaces go back to the male-centric practices and expectations. And return-to-office mandates aren’t the only challenge caretakers and their families are facing. The end of September marks the start of the so-called childcare cliff, when $24 billion in federal child care grants will expire. The ensuing financial strain could lead to more than 3 million children losing their child care spots, according to a report from the nonpartisan Century Foundation.

Affordable child care, though, is already difficult to find. And when families can’t afford to hire help, women in opposite-sex relationships are more likely to drop out of work to stay home with the kids. (They also say unaffordable child care is the No. 1 reason they won’t have more kids.) The U.S. economy can’t really afford to keep women on the sidelines—the labor force participation rate has been dropping for decades—and yet so few allowances are made to help workers keep, well, working. 

“Working mothers today have little to no safety net when it comes to structural governmental support,” says Kate Anderson, chief of staff at Motherly, a parenting platform. “Allowing mothers and all parents to have flexibility as to time in the office and allowing them to work remotely can lead to lower attrition and happier workers.”

Of course, there are drawbacks to remote work, and not every woman wants to work from home (or can). Remote work benefits all working parents, and taking care of the children shouldn’t just fall on moms. These are things we all know. But the reality is, as Vox’s Rani Molla wrote, “women need more flexible work arrangements, because women have more to do.” And over the past few years, there seemed to finally be real momentum to change the U.S.’s inflexible—or, in some places, nonexistent—workplace and leave policies. Paid leave came back to the forefront of the national conversation, parents received monthly checks that greatly reduced child poverty, and remote work helped some families grow and flourish.

The U.S. still doesn’t have mandated paid leave, and the monthly checks were discontinued long ago. Now, the return–to-office ramp up suggests we’re fully returning to pre-pandemic corporate work norms. Mothers may end up paying the price.

Alicia Adamczyk
alicia.adamczyk@fortune.com
@_AliciaAdamczyk

The Broadsheet is Fortune’s newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women. Today’s edition was curated by Joseph Abrams. Subscribe here.

ALSO IN THE HEADLINES

- Management shakeup. Diageo, the world's largest liquor maker, has hired former Clif Bar CEO Sally Grimes to the new position of North America CEO. Grimes left Clif Bar in February after Mondelez purchased the snack company. The shakeup is a renewed effort by Diageo CEO Debra Crew to boost sales in the U.S., where the Johnnie Walker maker has lost market share. Wall Street Journal

- A thankless job. Female community health workers in Africa, often required to work extensive hours as both doctors and nurses, are organizing across various nations to petition for better pay. Only 14% of community health workers in Africa are paid at all despite frequently being the only care providers available. New York Times

- Hard to manage. Four out of five working American and British women say managing perimenopause and menopause symptoms at work is a challenge, according to this year’s Menopause in the Workplace Survey from Carrot Fertility. Around one-third of women report being concerned about how menopause symptoms could be an obstacle to career growth. Fortune

- Closing the gates. Dilan Yesilgoz-Zegerius is poised to become the Netherlands' first female prime minister if November elections go her way. If she wins, the one-time refugee from Turkey aims to tighten the Netherlands' migrant policy. She says she wants to focus on “true refugees,” not those looking for economic opportunities. Bloomberg

- Fertility fees fly. LGBTQ couples and single women who rely on sperm banks for pregnancies are being hit with soaring costs. A single shot at a pregnancy at places like California Cryobank, where 60% of clients are LGBTQ couples and 20% are single women, now runs $2,000, twice what it cost five years ago. Wall Street Journal

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Clean Energy Ventures hired Cheryl Hallet as director of finance.

ON MY RADAR

One simple fix for our broken policing system: hiring more women Washington Post

How often do women think about … ? The New York Times

Why is every internet trend about men or ‘girls’? GQ

PARTING WORDS

"This is stuff I wrote in my notebook when I was 16, that I would make happen if I had a magic wand."

—Actress Margaret Qualley on the career she's always wanted