COVID 19 and Recovery Response
In these unprecedented times, the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) is committed to communicating and addressing the challenges women are facing. IWPR’s new research outlines how policymakers can address the immediate and long term needs of women, their families, and their communities in policy responses to the pandemic.
Congress needs to act now—women and families risk devastation after December 26 expiry of CARES Act benefits
The CARES Act, passed in March 2020, proved to be a lifeline for many women and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic. The benefits introduced by the CARES Act, including the $600 weekly federal unemployment benefit, lifted more than 18 million individuals out of poverty in April, a majority of whom were women. Women outnumber men among state unemployment insurance claimants both nationally and in the large majority of the states. By September, after the weekly federal benefit ended, the [...]
Build(ing) the Future: Bold Policies for a Gender-Equitable Recovery
This report, Build(ing) the Future: Bold Policies for a Gender-Equitable Recovery, provides a framework for shared prosperity and equitable economic recovery. It examines the impact of the economic crisis and recession on working women, their families, and communities.
“I experienced unpredictability because I was working full-time and no longer had child care”
"I experienced unpredictability because I was working full-time and no longer had child care"
(Transcript) Build(ing) the Future: A Symposium on the Policies we need for an Equitable Future for Women & Families
If you don’t understand who’s being most impacted by your policies, your strategies, and what you think should be done, the policies and programs you put forth will be short sighted and not reflective of the lived experiences and realities of those who are most impacted.
“I felt guilt making this decision to step out of the workplace”
Establish a National Child Care Infrastructure Like many working mothers, Nancy, a public affairs professional in Arlington, Virginia, left the workplace where she had spent almost 15 years in order to take care of her two-month old son when the pandemic took away her child care options. She expressed a sense of guilt in an interview with WBUR: “[M]y mother, she dedicated her life to raising me and my siblings. And while I think we are as successful today because [...]
“That’s what keeps me going—the hope”
When she was laid off in mid-March from a job she had held for decades, a hotel employee in Rhode Island felt abandoned by her employer. As she told WBUR, she felt that they did not care that, “I have a family that rely on me. It's not like that you are only telling me when something happened to me, you're telling everybody who depend on me.” Ideally, assistance and support should be widely available to individuals and families in [...]