[api]

We’ve been on our way there for a long time my friend. The downfall of the US middle class started in the early 1970s. COVID may have accelerated some of those trends, but on the flip side it also vastly accelerated telework which allows people to escape cities with insanely high costs.

[ppf]

>on the flip side it also vastly accelerated telework which allows people to escape cities with insanely high costs

Not really. We aren't lucky enough to have space in our family home for an office for either my wife or I to work from home For that reason, I am very grateful that I work in a company that has allowed staff to work on site for the last year.

I don't know what she's going to do when she comes off maternity leave. I'm sure that women less determined than her will just return to becoming the defacto childcare for the family.

Teleworking will favour some and disfavour others.

Edit: Your general point is, in my opinion, correct. Covid lockdowns have massively accelerated all that was going wrong, and stopped everything that was going right. Given that at least some forms of gender, wealth, and income inequality were previously going in the right direction, that is one of the things that has been stopped.

[kQq9oHeAz6wLLS]

> women less determined than her will just return to becoming the defacto childcare for the family.

Don't discount those women who stay home to take care of baby. I know many women that, after having a baby, realize that they're in a situation that allows them to hang up the rat race and settle into a more simple life of raising a child.

How many YT channels and IG influencers flout their "simple" life and people flock to them? Now imagine you suddenly not only have the means, but a really good excuse to simplify and focus on things that you've come to realize in the last year matter more to you than work. That's where many women (and men) find themselves these days, especially after having many previous leisure activities unavailable. Some have come to realize they really didn't find actual joy from those things, so they cut them out.

And it's why the "return to work" stats for women will continue to be lower than expectations for a good while yet.