For six years, Mackenzie Bruegge worked in medical billing. But with two young children at home, the West Branch, Iowa, mother says the math just didn’t add up.
“The average day care we found was about $500 a week, and I made maybe $1,000 every two weeks. So then, with two kids, I was like, ‘This just doesn’t make sense.’ It would just cancel out my check,” Bruegge told CBS News.
She tried working from home while caring for her 3-year-old and newborn, but the demands were overwhelming.
“Working eight hours a day while trying to do this, my head was spinning all day,” she said.
Bruegge and her husband, Mitchell, decided they could live off his income as a plumber, so in August, she said goodbye to the job she once loved.
As for making ends meet with just one income, Bruegge said, “It’s not easy. It’s doable, but it’s definitely hard.”
Her decision to quit reflects a national trend: More than 400,000 women left the U.S. workforce in the first half of 2025, according to a University of Kansas analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data. It’s the steepest decline in more than 40 years for mothers of young children, the University of Kansas found.
Economist Misty Heggeness found that child care was the main reason young mothers were leaving their jobs.
“Women are going to start backtracking and coming [out of] the labor force because it’s too intense and exhausting,” Heggeness told CBS News.
“We don’t have enough support and structure around policies that actually help caregivers,” Heggeness continued. “When they’re faced with this choice, they’re not gonna leave their children, so they’re left with leaving their jobs.”
For Bruegge, she told CBS News she wished her decision to leave her job hadn’t come down to finances.
“I would’ve much rather made the choice on my own than have to be put in this weird position. Of course,” she said.
But, Bruegge said she’s found a new rhythm and is actually much happier now — and so are her children.
“I felt guilt while working, which was very stressful for all of us,” she said, adding, “The extra time has been awesome.”
“It’s like a breath of fresh air. Just being able to focus on them. It’s still crazy. But when I compare it to working and dealing with them, like, it’s nothing compared to that,” Bruegge said.
Lana Zak is an anchor for CBS News 24/7 and a CBS News national correspondent.
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