Workforce Woes!!!

First Name Tom, Last Name Foolery… And I’m Everybody’s Uncle!    

Especially this strong, single mother... Tonya Hughes.

Tonya Hughes, a single mother in Rockville, Maryland, & a longtime substitute teacher, hasn’t worked since March 13, when her state first announced shutdowns because of the coronavirus.

Previously, she’d worked for 10 years as a substitute, making about $18 an hour. Now, like so many women around the country, Hughes is at home with her son, a second grader with a learning disability who needs help with virtual school.

The 48-year-old could go back to work, remotely, & teach over Zoom. But she can’t juggle supporting her son’s school day while running a classroom full of other kids at the same time, she said.

“Do I take my son out of school so I can get my work done?” she asked, rhetorically.

Maybe she could get another job, outside the home after school, if she had child care. But Hughes is a single mother with no one to fall back on if she contracts COVID-19.

“If I get sick, if anything happens to me, forget it. Who’s going to take care of my child?” she asked.

For now, the two of them are at home — only leaving to take the bus to the grocery store or walk over to the school, which provides free grab n’ go lunches.

Faced with shaky job prospects across so many industries & often with children home for virtual school, many women have simply given up on the idea of working. All told, 2.1 million women have left the workforce since this pandemic started, compared to nearly 1.7 million men.

Climb on The Family Tree below & share your thoughts about My Niece Tonya Hughes' workforce situation.

By: Emily Peck

Image(s): Getty

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