♪ this is "nightline." tonight, working mothers set back. under pressure trg the pandemic. >> even in this crisis, i can't afford not to work. >> torn between child care and their careers. >> can you make me lunch? >> is it lunchtime already? >> why women are more likely to quit their jobs now. >> you could say it's a personal choice, but it doesn't feel like one. >> will the american workforce change forever. and live science, from concreting the largest nerve gun to showing us how germs spread. why this former nasa engineer is trending in the pandemic and tying the knot, finding the silver lining under quarantine.

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i'm not sure it's going to work. it'll work. i didn't know you were listening. ♪ thanks for joining us, tonight the pandemic pushing working mothers across america to up end their lives. continue working and providing for your family, or quit and become a full-time care-giver. here is how the coronavirus is

taking a disproportionate thoton working moms. >> reporter: she tried to make it work, caring for her daughter while working full time in the pandemic. >> i had friends and family driving long distances to watch her if for a week or two weeks. or a month at a type. also, that i could keep doing this work that i loved. >> reporter: her job at an animal rescue farm. not only a paycheck but a passion. >> thanks, nat. >> reporter: soon it was too much for the 33-year-old single mother. >> i used up all my sick days basically in the first, i don't know, six weeks of schools closing and i think that if the choice is twenting cae inine iin

taking care of animals or my daughter, i take care of my daughter. it was a sad day, because, again, i took what i was doing seriously. and i really wanted to be there. you could say it's a personal choice, but it doesn't feel like one. if i had my choice, i would still be working. >> jimmy: katie moved across country in to her grandmother's home in chino, cafe. three generations of mothers now keeping the family afloat. >> it's not just moms. it's my mom. and my grandmother, so, the -- it's generations back of women and mothers who end up being affected by this. because if i fall, who's going pick me up? my mom. like the same way i would for my daughter. >> jimmy: katie is one of the nearly 2.2 million women who have left the workforce since the covid-19 pandemic began, with another 1 in 4 women considering quitting or downsizing their careers.

most economists are calling it the she-session if you will. because women are taking the brunt of the labor market damage from covid-19. and this is for two reasons. one, is because a lot of the industries and occupations that had they had work in have been hard hit in the pandemic in the second reason is the lack of child care and the disruption daycare and school closures have caused. >> reporter: women 25-44 are more likely to leave because of child care demands. >> this will cost upwards of $700 billion to the u.s. economy in terms of lost productivity. that is 3.5 of gdp. >> reporter: experts say a short-term hiatus like katie expects to do, can have a big impact. >> it can set women back a generation when it comes to progress in the workforce. >> reporter: even those women that kept their job and have the flexibility to work from home,

are feeling the pressure. >> good morning, just got up for the day. it's just after 5:30. >> reporter: holly oaks has been balancing her job in portland, oregon and, helping her two kids ages 10-12 with their remote learning. >> i usually get an hour or so of uninterrupted work time so -- [ music playing ] >> there's also the fun fact that my son is in band and they do it virtually. >> reporter: holly's husband works from home too, but she said that she bares the brunt of the child care. >> yes, sweetie pie. there's so many women that say they are failing everywhere. work, there's no way to possibly keep up with it. >> definitely, it's a great way of articulating it, we are doing so much, i liken it to we are

trying to plug holes in a sinking boat and there's so many that you cannot plug all of them. and i definitely feel like i'm failing in all areas. are you ready >> reporter: her employer is supportive, but it's a challenge still. >> i am lucky to work from home, i do not have to go in a office every day or in the field every day. and i have a partner i'm working with. i can't imagine being what it would be like being a single parent having to go in the field. >> reporter: a certified medical assistant in detroit has no choice but to keep reporting to her job in the hospital. >> even in this time, right now, with the covid-19, i can't afford not to work. >> reporter: experts say the economic impact and stress of the pandemic has hit women of coll color hardest. >> there's no working from home and shifting hours around. and they have less access to

back-up child care. they are less likely to have a nanny or baby-sitter and somebody they can turn to do watch the kids so they can get to work. >> reporter: how have you been managing it all? >> he on my goodness. it's been difficult since the pandemic began in march. i have a team, people i work with, my manager and supervisor, they are resourceful and they are trying to help me get through it. they understand that i'm not alone in this. they also need people to show up to work. so, it's been a challenge. trying to keeping going to work and prevent not being furloughed or fired. >> reporter: even before the pandemic, finances were tight for her and her children, making their own hand sanitizers and masks. she never wants them to be homeless like she was when her mother died. in the spring, the hospital she works at was under siege.

angel was tested. wor woried that a positive result would keep her out of work. >> praying for good results. >> reporter: the next day, relief, she was negative. >> such a beautiful day. and it just makes you miss all the life that was usually out here. >> reporter: but child care has been a harder problem to solve. in the spring, her children were in free daycare for essential workers a lifeline funded for a time. in the fall, her children entered an in person learning pod in school, and just last week, angel was informed it will be closing because of rising covid cases. >> december 4th will be the last day until further notice. i'm assuming until next year. from, you know, i'm going to have to really figure on out this week what i'm going to do. i don't have too much support. my mom died when i was 2. my grandmother, her mother died of cancer two years ago.

so, it's so hard to get the job and stuff, and get somewhere. and then you get it and then, your kids or the -- or being able to be there for your kids on or the choice of work and kids should not be a choice. like, i should not have to -- i want to be the best mom i can be. >> the choices are impossible and you are carrying the world on your shoulders. >> reporter: but angel has a hard one resilience. >> we can the do -- we can do it, i was born to this. >> holding ourselves to do a prepandemic standard is ludicrous. it will be moms picking up the looseneds and tying it for them. give yourself permission to leave some stuff untied. >> reporter: katie still out of work and her daughter taking the virtual classes by her side, hopes that this will teach her one of life's most valuable

lessons. >> i hope she learned to be scrappy. i personally am not powerful enough to change the world operates around me, but i can show her how to operate within the world. >> reporter: our thanks to rebecca, and coming up, how this former nasa engineer is taking science in the pandemic on a rocket ride to youtube stardom. a lotta folks are asking me lately how to get their dishes as clean as possible. i tell them, you should try cascade platinum plus the power of oxi. cascade platinum + oxi breaks down food soils some detergents can leave behind, cleaning up to 99% of visible and invisible food residue then washing it away so it doesn't redeposit on your dishes. and oxi is cascade's most powerful clean, formulated with no chlorine bleach. for a deep, hygienic clean you can see and feel cascade + the power of oxi.

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nasa engineer is hoping to make science rivoting. he is exciting viewers with experiments that not only go viral, they break world records. ♪ double cross, fires two missiles at the same time. >> look familiar? the nerf gun was the toy to have. >> don't you get it? it's nerf or nothing. >> it took me a while, eventually i grew up enough to stop playing with toys like h these. you did too, the magic was lost, unless you are this guy. this is the world's largest nerf gun and this is the world's biggest kid. his name is mark rober, take one part literal rocket scientist and two parts youtube sensation and a load of messing around and he will have you feeling like a

kid again, only smarter. it's larger than life sperpts like these had that transformed mark in to a social media phenomenon, with 15 million subscribers racking up 1.5 billion views. growing up in the '90s and 2000s, i had bill nye the science guy. today, kids have mark rober, who is that? >> mark rober is passionate about getting people stoked about science and engineering. like, that's kind of my m.o.. so i will suck people in with something big like, you know, world's largest nerf gun or super soaker. it's about telling them about the science of what is going on from. >> reporter: already, pause, because we are in a global pandemic, you are wondering how we are hanging out with little social distancing and no masks? we shot this segment before the world shut down. in the time that there's no shortage of news -- >> i thought if we could see the germs around us. >> reporter: he has been hosting

science classes for those of us stuck at home. physics, chemistry, math, my nightmare growing up. for mark, numbers and formulas and an accumen for ip ovation came to him. how did you get curious about science? >> i loved math and science and physics, so a lot of videos come down to physics principals. so i'm trying to explain this word is magical, but in a way that you if you understand how it works you with predict the future and make cooler things. >> reporter: but mark is not your every day diy science guy. he has got the resume to back up the experiments of astronomical proportions. but i mean, long before, this was not your job. you were not a youtube er. you were actually a rocket scientist. >> yeah, i spent nine years at nasa, and even of those were working on the curiosity

it's 90 million miles away. it's cool. >> reporter: while he was sending aircrafts to space, he posted this science experiment to youtube. it got him nearly 10 million views. >> and that was a cool feeling and i'm like, i should, i want to do this more. i should do this again. right? so honestly from that point, like eight years ago, i have done one video a month. >> reporter: before long, he left behind, and i cannot stress this enough, a job at nasa to make youtube videos full time. >> yeah, there was a survey that went out recently that it's like, more kids want to be professional youtube ers than astronauts and everyone is like, even i'm like -- man. that's so lame. but then i was like, holdup. i quit my dream job to do make youtube videos so i'm not one to judge. >> reporter: sounds crazy, right? well the gamble paid off,

literally, now he is making a living off of experiments which are often sponsored by major brands. his biggest hits racking up millions of views. like the world's largest horn. or a pool made entirely of jello. and a bowling ball that only makes strikes. talk to me about the ideas. because these are an 8-year-old's dream. are you a kid? >> so i joke in the videos, like my quest should be the favorite uncle with my nieces and nephews and i started with, you know, a lot of times having them in the videos. i although of having kids and young people in my videos because like they are sucky actors. so, when they give a reaction it's genuine. when you see just like the shear enjoyment of like a kid doing a belly flop in to a jello pool. it's like that, is just magic. >> reporter: one of his most viral clips inspired when

somebody started getting handsy with his packages so he made them pay with glitter. >> i felt like a victim. i was like, holdup. i helped put the rover on mars i made a dartboard that you get a bullseye every time. if anybody can do something about it, it's me. >> reporter: like most tech nerds he calls the bay area home, here at his workshop, we finally got to mess around with gadgets. >> there you go, no, no, that is perfect. >> reporter: i'm having the time of my life, but mark said it's all about education. he even advocates for important causes. trying to save the planets with subber ce lmpcelebs like bill g. as a youtuber and scientist and dad, why is it is important for you to advocate for the causes?

>> it's weird to think i can tap a microphone and like 25 million people will listen. right? and so, i can't just sit by and not do something knowing that i could. right? and i have the power to do something about it. this is the world's largest nerf gun. i have kind of like opened out up here so you can see. >> but it's hard not to admit that being a big kid is in mark's dna. so mark just loaded up the world's largest nerf gun, our producer john is sit in the trampoline, he is about to have the nerf shot straight at him. are you ready? we are going to pray we don't take you out. if we do, sorry. are you ready? >> i'm ready. >> reporter: say hello to my little friend. >> oh! >> oh! >> yeah! >> reporter: that was awesome. >> shotgun, mic got taken off the camera.

how are you feeling, cap? >> that is 40 miles an hour of pure toilet plunger. >> no producers were hurt in the making of this piece. but i do think we need more space. and a drone. we definitely need a drone. >> oh! >> if 8-year-old mark rober could see you now, what would he think? >> he would very stoked. real stoked. >> for "nightline," in silicone valley. yee-haw! >> our thanks, up next a real life romeo and juliet love story m t life romeo and juliet love story m t in the age of covid. because the pain you're feeling could be a sign of irreversible joint damage. every day you live with pain, swelling, and stiffness... you risk not being able to do the things you love.

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♪ finally tonight, in sickness and in health. >> i am delighted to pronounce you lauren fitzpatrick, as wife and husband. >> lauren jimenez and patrick delgato of california, separated by covid, and together in matrimony, lauren testing positive days before their big day, with their marriage license

about to expire, they pushed forward with the ceremony. lauren sitting by her bedroom window and patrick beneath her, connect by a 30 foot ribbon, symbolizing their love and unity. a love story for the ages. that's nightline. you can find our full episode on hulu and we will see you back here tomorrow at the same time. thanks for staying up with us, good night, america.