The rebound in jobs for men in the US was swift after the initial weeks of the Covid pandemic, but not so for women. This column highlights three areas for change to alleviate the burden on working women in the US. First, legal changes are needed to both federal and state-level regulation, with a particular focus on parental leave and pension rules. Second, vocational training incentives with a particular focus on women are needed. Third, future recovery programmes may do well to take the actual gender pay gap – factoring in unpaid work that women do in the household – into consideration.