WASHINGTON — The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic recession have led to major changes in women’s lives and employment, ranging from lost jobs to reduced working hours and increased caregiving responsibilities at home. Providing direct financial support, investing in the child care system, changing workplace policies to better support families, and promoting women’s access to male-dominated jobs are short-term strategies that policymakers can use to ease the harms of the pandemic and increase women’s participation in the post-COVID workforce, says a new rapid expert consultation from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.