“Women have fallen behind in the (post-pandemic) return-to-office push, reflecting the barriers they can still hit when juggling careers and families, even after decades of workplace gains.”

That was the observation of the Wall Street Journal in a report in its Oct. 25-26 edition.

The message within that paragraph is that, although women’s pay has experienced a decline, when stacked against men’s, it is not due to intentional, gross, beefed-up unfairness — less pay for the same work — on the part of companies toward them. Rather, it is the unfortunate impact of shouldering a disproportionate share of household responsibilities.

Francine Blau, an economics professor at Cornell University in New York, summed up that view by pointing out that “this traces back to gender norms in society in general.”

“Women who want work-from-home flexibility are finding it comes with a price” was the point with which the Journal began its article, and the newspaper provided some statistics that confirm it.

Referring to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data, the Journal reported women working full time by last year made 81 cents on the dollar compared with men, the widest pay gap since 2016.

Meanwhile, U.S. Department of Labor numbers compiled more recently indicate men are outpacing women this year, also, when it comes to weekly earnings growth.

According to the Journal, economists who have been watching the emergence of the widening gap have expressed the belief that the leading cause is the effort by many companies to get their workers back into their offices, rather than allowing them to continue to work from home, as they did when the pandemic was raging.

Within some companies, the back-to-office mandate has prompted some women to quit, refuse promotions or opt for lower-paying responsibilities offering more flexibility.

Said differently, they are doing what they feel is necessary to balance their work life with their at-home responsibilities, and they merit praise for such commitment.

Here’s one finding by economists at the University of Pittsburgh who have been researching the issue:

Women are nearly three times more likely than men to leave a job at a high tech or financial firm when a return-to-office order is issued.

The research in question tracked more than 3 million tech and finance workers’ employment histories through the end of 2023.

Fortunately for many, that decision won’t necessarily end permanently their career-advancement opportunities. Still, it is unfortunate that even a temporary hold must be placed on their talents and motivation, depriving not only themselves of the benefits of their employment but also their employers and the people that their companies serve.

But even during the darkest days of COVID-19, when millions of people were performing their job duties within their home environment rather than at their workplaces, probably few honestly believed that the day would never come when returning to their regular work environments would be necessary.

Now, however, that day has arrived, not only for the nation’s big metropolitan areas like New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., but also for places like Altoona and Johnstown, albeit on a much smaller scale.

Here and elsewhere, the important thing is to strive for the right perspective of what has transpired — and is transpiring — and strive to adjust accordingly.

It is reasonable to believe that most affected women here will have the will and stamina to do that.