Join us for IWPR’s 2026 Power+ Summit, The Power Grid: Driving Gender Equity Forward, taking place September 28–29 in Detroit, MI.
Together, we will spark bold ideas, share breakthroughs, and shape the future of gender equity.
(Report written collaboratively by Erica Williams, Institute for Women’s Policy Research, and Anne W. Mitchell, Early Childhood Policy Research.) Marked growth in the labor force participation of women in general, and of mothers specifically, has deepened the need for work and care supports for families. Early care and education has emerged as a critical resource to keep parents working and to provide much needed early care for young children.