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More working moms taking leave to stay home to help children learn from home during pandemic, study says

Juggling careers and children who are learning from home has forced many parents, especially working moms, to make tough decisions.

That’s led to a trend across the country where working mothers are leaving their jobs to take care of their kids who are learning from home. The question is, once this pandemic is over, how difficult will it be to get back to work?

Jessica Popov was not trained as a teacher, but the pandemic forced her to take on the role. Before the pandemic, she worked in a private practice as a mental health counselor in the Orlando area for three years.

“Coronavirus

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“When I saw what it was like to balance both a client load and trying to navigate the school work for my own child, I decided that for the fall semester I was going to take a leave from my practice,” she said.

She said shutting down was not easy, but it had to be done.

“It definitely took a hit to our income,” she said.

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In a recent survey, one human resources company in California found that as of August, nearly 30% of working parents decided to leave the workforce to educate kids from home.

Rhonda Taylor has been a recruiting expert for nearly 20 years and said she has lost at least 10% of her workforce because mothers have decided to stay home.

“I think it presents another layer of complications when applying to new jobs after a gap in employment, often times recruiters see that gap and they don’t ask for the explanation. They see the gap and they make assumptions,” Taylor said. “Often times they aren’t able to reenter at the same level that they were when they left.”

Karen Parks

Karen Parks, WFTV.com

Karen Parks is a reporter at WFTV.

Sarah Wilson

Sarah Wilson, WFTV.com

Sarah Wilson joined WFTV Channel 9 in 2018 as a digital producer after working as an award-winning newspaper reporter for nearly a decade in various communities across Central Florida.