This Research in Brief summarizes key findings of the IWPR report ‘Why Privatizing Government Services Would Hurt Women Workers by Annette Bernhardt and Laura Dresser (forthcoming). Using data from the 1998 Current Population Survey, Bernhardt and Dresser document job growth in the public and private sectors and examine the quality of jobs in terms of wages and benefits. Overall, this research finds that the public sector offers considerably better wages and benefits for women workers than does the private sector. For African American and Hispanic women, and for women who do not have a college education, the difference is between public and private sector employment is especially pronounced. To a large extent, higher wages and better access to health and pension coverage in the public sector can be attributed to higher rates of union coverage.

An overview of research conducted shortly after the 1996 welfare refor. Highlights unique labor market and family care issues faced by women, women of color, and immigrants.

Recent initiatives to expand and enact paid family and medical leave programs have been inspired by the dramatic decline in the proportion of families with a full-time caregiver (wife and mother) at home.

Colorado reflects both the advances and limited progress achieved by women in the United States.

New Hampshire reflects both the advances and limited progress achieved by women in the United States.

Indiana reflects both the advances and limited progress achieved by women in the United States.

Hawaii reflects both the advances and limited progress achieved by women in the United States.

Testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

Social Security reform is a women’s issue. Women make up 60 percent of Social Security beneficiaries, and they depend more heavily on Social Security than men do for their income in retirement.

This report is from the 1999 Working Conference on Women and Social Security. It presents recommendations on how to close Social Security's projected solvency gap as well as options to strengthen Social Security for women and families.