Louisville, Kentucky, United States – Patricia Iverson feels shut down. The 33-year-old single mother of two had been working hard to pay off bills to move into a bigger apartment. But when the coronavirus pandemic recently forced the company she worked for in Louisville, Kentucky, to drastically reduce her hours, she felt like she had no other option but to leave and find something else.
“It just didn’t make sense to stay for a few days a week,” she said.
Iverson, like so many mothers who were laid off or quit during the pandemic, is now looking for a new job one that will pay the bills, and allows her to be around her children, who have asthma and seizures.
By Cynthia L. Cooper Share:
During the evenings in September 2020, Kimberly Mauer, a partner in finance at Cincinnati-based Frost Brown Todd LLC, retreated to her basement. There, she painted dozens of curvy wooden hearts in the blue color of the firmâs logo. Mauer, chair of the Womenâs Initiative Committee of the 525-lawyer firm, had already convened âParents with Childrenâ chats, after COVID-19 closures sent lawyers home to work remotely and children home to learn remotely. âItâs been a huge burden for them, emotionally and psychologically,â Mauer says. The chats drew women and men in a two-to-one ratio, and Mauer arranged for 120 blue hearts, complete with a bow and note, to go out to all. âOne woman told me she got the heart and cried,â Mauer notes.