In its current state, the U.S. childcare system is unequipped to support mothers reentering the workforce. Soaring costs, a critical shortage of caregivers, and diminishing federal support have created a challenging environment for families seeking affordable, accessible childcare. Immigrant women in particular face intersecting barriers hindering their integration into the workforce in a new country.
Stories of the Childcare Crisis for Immigrant Women
As it stands, women shoulder a disproportionate burden of childcare and household responsibilities. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, mothers are four times more likely than fathers to miss work due to childcare, with women accounting for a substantial 82% of childcarerelated work absences. Meanwhile, many employers fail to provide crucial safeguards such as paid leave, forcing women to scale back their work hours or exit the workforce altogether. Upwardly Global Bound by Care
For immigrant, refugee, and asylee women, these challenges are often exacerbated by further barriers in navigating cultural adaptation, financial instability, and the complex immigration system. In 2022, after launching our Women’s Economic Power (WEP) initiative, Upwardly Global aimed to address the unique barriers that workauthorized immigrant women face at the intersection of their multiple identities, such as gender, color, and immigration status. We quickly found that a lack of childcare was the primary reason that women drop out of our program, stalling their job-search journeys in the U.S. To deepen our understanding of their experiences, we conducted a series of listening sessions in the fall of 2023,
with participants representing 20 countries of origin across 13 U.S. states. Within the following pages, you will find the lived experiences of immigrant, refugee, and asylee women navigating the U.S. childcare system. These narratives also contain their recommendations to strengthen access to childcare within their communities and across the country. The conversations revealed shared themes, with many expressing their need to leave the U.S. workforce due to exorbitant childcare costs despite strong desires to remain. They detailed the sacrifices they made in their careers, independence, and financial stability to care for their children, along with the mental health impacts they endured such as increased stress, anxiety, and depression.
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