NEW YORK (AP) — Research is increasingly pointing to a retreat of working mothers from the U.S. labor force, as the pandemic leaves parents with few child care options and the added burden of navigating distance learning.

The trend threatens the financial stability of families in the near-term. In the long-term, the crisis could stall, if not reverse, decades of hard-fought gains by working women, who are still far from achieving labor force parity with men.