Karoline Leavitt is leaving one of the most visible jobs in Washington to spend more time with her children. Her departure highlights a problem that extends well beyond the White House. Many of the most prestigious and well-paid jobs still demand constant availability, making them particularly difficult for parents of young children. But these jobs may not have to be so demanding.

Leavitt is leaving her post today, just a few months after returning from maternity leave following the birth of her second child. “Every day as a working mother is a challenge,” Leavitt told NewsNation on Thursday. She added, “You have to make sacrifices” and “you have to say no to a lot of opportunities that come your way because you want to be there for bedtime with your kids every night.”

Leavitt isn’t alone. A new analysis by USA Today found that mothers who served as White House press secretaries stayed about a year less than women with no kids and men. Leavitt is the fourth White House press secretary in seven years to leave the job to focus on family.

Press Secretary Is A “Greedy Job”

Nobel Prize-winning economist Claudia Goldin popularized the term “greedy jobs” for positions that pay well but demand long and inflexible hours, like press secretary. Past press secretaries have described working from 5 a.m. until 8 p.m., and that’s when they’re not traveling for their job.

However, greedy jobs are mostly characterized by the unpredictability of when individuals are required to work. In the press secretary role, the White House needs their spokesperson any time something happens. Three days after Leavitt’s first child was born in 2024, there was an assassination attempt on the president. She returned to work just four days after giving birth.

Former press secretary Sean Spicer similarly described the role as a “24-7 job” because breaking news can wake you in the middle of the night. Indeed, Leavitt says that President Trump, “deserves the press secretary who can be here on the clock, literally 24/7. That’s what the job requires.”

Since women play a larger role in childcare, Goldin argues that “greedy jobs” are a major contributor to the gender pay gap. Women are more likely than men to step back from greedy jobs to attend to children.

It may seem that the demands of jobs like press secretary are unavoidable, and there isn’t much anyone can do to make them more family-friendly. But Goldin would likely disagree. She has argued time and again that these types of jobs can and must change.

Goldin argues that jobs can be redesigned so that one particular employee doesn’t need to be available all the time. She calls this increasing workers’ “substitutability.” Goldin often pointed to obstetrics as a successful example of this strategy.

Babies don’t arrive on a schedule. So, if any profession seemed destined to remain a greedy job, it would have been obstetrics.

Traditionally, obstetricians were required to be on call when their patients went into labor. As a result, it was a true 24/7 job. But then the profession changed. Now, it’s more common for obstetricians to work shifts in the hospital, so there are far fewer on-call demands. Women now make up 64% of practicing obstetricians.

A similar structure could be developed for a press secretary. A White House press secretary isn’t an obstetrician, and dividing the job among several people could sacrifice some continuity. But Goldin has suggested that employers often put too much value on continuity when the work could be reorganized. Obstetrics shows that even when continuity seems important, it isn’t always essential.

Greedy Jobs And Having Children

Making greedy jobs less greedy doesn’t just help with equality and reducing the gender pay gap. There’s evidence that demanding work schedules may impact women’s decisions about having children. One study found that weekend overtime, night shifts and on-call work were associated with lower intentions to have children. Another study found that shorter hours and greater workplace flexibility can increase intentions to have kids.

Vice President JD Vance has made increasing the birth rate a priority, declaring earlier this year, “I want more babies in the United States of America.” If the administration wants Americans to have more babies, making demanding jobs more compatible with raising them would be a great place to start.