A handmaid's tale is fucking feminist circle jerk and the dumbest shit ever. Like companies would lose profits to fire women. Free market keeps that shit from happening.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_bar
Just sayin...
Which is to say, it was economically justified.
Which is irrelevant. The main point is that small children need their mother 24/7 during their earliest years. If they are not with them for more than 20 hours per week, their psychological development becomes damaged. It has the same effect as if they are abandoned entirely.