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.
Halting Recovery Leaves Women’s Unemployment in Double Digits, and Women’s Payroll Employment Still 6.9 Million Below Pre-Crisis Levels
New jobs figures from July show much less job growth than in the previous month, and while women were the majority of those who gained jobs, they continue to face a higher jobs deficit than men, according to the U.S. Bureau for Labor Statistics latest Employment Situation release.
The ‘shecession’: why economic crisis is affecting women more than men
From February to May, 11.5 million women lost their jobs compared with 9 million men – underlining how women are more vulnerable to sudden losses of income By Amanda Holpuch C Nicole Mason, president and chief executive of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), said: “We didn’t do enough in the 2008 recession to make sure there was an even recovery, and what I am hoping this time around is that we learn those hard lessons and we make [...]
Domestic abusers are taking survivors’ stimulus checks — and lawmakers want the IRS to do something about it
Domestic-violence survivors often use cash infusions as a springboard toward safety. By Meera Jagannathan and Andrew Keshner One reason many survivors remain with their abusers is insufficient means to financially support themselves and/or their kids, advocates say. Some 73% of domestic-violence survivors report staying with an abusive partner longer or returning to that partner due to financial problems, according to a 2018 Institute for Women’s Policy Research survey of 164 individuals in 11 states and Washington, D.C. Read More
COVID-19 and Online Education Decisions
New survey data show pandemic may be disproportionately influencing women to choose online education over in-person options. By Lindsay McKenzie Women have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, and this may be why they feel they cannot pursue in-person education, even if previously this would have been their preference, said C. Nicole Mason, president and CEO of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. Women are more likely to have lost work because of the pandemic and are more likely to be caring [...]
Prioritizing Student Parents in COVID-19 Response and Relief
Nearly four million U.S. undergraduate college students are parents or guardians of children under the age of 18. These student parents, who already faced immense financial, child care, food, and housing insecurity before the COVID-19 pandemic, are now dealing with multiple new barriers, including school closures, lay-offs, and child care disruptions, among other challenges.
America’s child care problem is an economic problem
“Families are not okay,” one expert says. It’s making the economic crisis way worse. By: Anna North Add to that parents needing and looking for jobs: More than 11 percent of women are unemployed right now The difficulty of finding child care is already causing parents to drop out of the workforce and reduce hours. Meanwhile, millions of Americans, many of them parents, have lost jobs due to the economic crisis. Job losses have been especially pronounced among women, 11.2 percent of [...]