With mothers leaving the workforce and costs skyrocketing, Moms First Founder & CEO Reshma Saujani explains why the system is failing families—and how it can change.
November 3, 2025 (New York, NY) — Millions of American families are stretched to the breaking point by child care costs—and the conversation is finally shifting. On Sunday, November 2, CBS Sunday Morning featured Reshma Saujani and Moms First, putting a national spotlight on the women who keep the country running and the system that is failing them. This year alone, 450,000 women left the workforce while nearly 400,000 men entered it. Mothers of young children are being forced out, again.
In an interview with Tracy Smith, Saujani explained the real-world impact on families: “Two-thirds of the caregiving work is often done by women. It’s moms who are having to make this choice. They’re downshifting their jobs, dropping out of the workforce entirely.” Beyond the workforce implications, families are feeling the financial squeeze. As Saujani explained, “We have lots of conversations about the cost of housing, about the cost of gas, about the cost of eggs. But when you look at a family’s budget and you say, what is the most expensive line item, the answer is child care.”
The stakes are high. Child care costs are higher than rent in all 50 states, rising nearly twice the rate of inflation, and 55% of parents go into debt just to afford it. Over half of American families live in child care deserts, leaving moms—and their families—without options. The CBS segment highlighted two families: one in Texas paying more for child care than their mortgage, and another in New Mexico thriving with real choices thanks to the state’s universal free child care program.
Moms First is leading the fight for affordable child care, bringing together business leaders, advocates, and policymakers to push for real solutions that work for families. The CBS Sunday Morning segment highlighted that this isn’t a partisan issue: Senators Katie Britt and Tim Kaine emphasized that supporting families is an economic priority America cannot afford to ignore.
The CBS Sunday Morning segment shines a light on a crisis that can no longer be ignored: child care is no longer just a family issue—it’s an economic emergency, and the stakes for America’s families, workforce, and economic security have never been higher.