Why the 'shecession' will last long after COVID-19 pandemic ends

While some women are breaking the glass ceiling, others have been forced to take a step back as the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a so-called "shecession."

In January 2020, women outnumbered men in the United States workforce. In December 2020, women accounted for nearly 90% of the jobs lost. Black women and Latinas have been hit especially hard by unemployment.

But the job problem goes even deeper. In order to be counted as unemployed, you have to be actively looking for work -- but more than 2 million women have left the labor force during the pandemic, and they're not looking for work because they are staying home to care for children or other family members.

The impact of the "shecession" could last for years. Despite that, women and moms are doing their best to figure it out and make it work every day.

Watch the powerful, emotional stories of women across America determined to build a better world. Challenging the status quo, shifting the balance of power, and using their ingenuity to help transform their communities.

"Our America: Women Forward" is a five-part, multi-platform docu-series culminating into a one-hour documentary that celebrates women and follows their historical journey of challenges and barriers faced to breaking barriers and shattering glass ceilings to build a better country, world, and future for the next generation.

The docu-series will air as a five-part special each day, March 8-13, across all eight owned stations within the newscasts of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Houston, Raleigh-Durham, and Fresno, and streamed on all OTV's 32 connected TV apps, beginning March 2021. The docu-series culminates to an hour-long special that airs the weekend of March 13, 2021.