COVID-19 and Recovery Response
As the pandemic enters its third year and the nation turns to recovery, the Institute for Women’s Policy Research is committed to amplifying and addressing the challenges women face. IWPR’s new research provides insights and recommendations for policymakers to help meet the urgent and long-term needs of women, their families, and their communities.
America Never Valued Care Workers. Then a Pandemic Hit.
By Bryce Covert Now everyone knows teachers, child care providers, and health aides are essential workers. Will that finally get them the pay and protections they deserve? Care work, said Purdue University history professor Tithi Bhattacharya, is “life making and life sustaining.” Yet it “receives the least amount of respect from capitalism.” England, University of Massachusetts Amherst economist Nancy Folbre, and fellow UMass Amherst sociologist Michelle Budig have found that even when they compare workers with the same education and experience levels, [...]
Unanswered Questions, Obvious Answers: Hunger in the Age of COVID
by ABBY J. LEIBMAN and LIZA LIEBERMAN For activists like us, it comes as no surprise that those who are most affected by these hostile actions are women—working women on the front lines as the majority of service workers, women who are single heads of households, women who are newly unemployed as businesses shutter and those in pink collar administrative positions are laid off. Hunger in the wake of COVID-19 is being felt acutely by women across every sector and in every community. Indeed, earlier this month, [...]
Coronavirus pandemic forces millions of working women into “impossible” roles
By KELSEY MICKLAS The unemployment crisis sparked by the global coronavirus pandemic has delivered an unprecedented blow to women in the United States -- hitting women of color particularly hard. Dr. Nicole Mason, President and CEO of the Institute for Women's Policy Research says that's largely due in part to their "over-representation" in service sector-based jobs -- an area that has suffered the greatest impact since the pandemic's start. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for women in April was [...]
Single Mothers Hit Hard by Job Losses
By: Tim Henderson In April, the number of single mothers with jobs was 22% lower than it was a year ago, compared with a 9% employment decline for other families with children, according to the analysis. The hit was even harder for low-wage single moms: Eighty-three percent working as waitresses lost their jobs by mid-April, along with 72% of those working as cleaners, 58% of cooks, half of personal care aides and 14% of customer service representatives, according to the analysis. [...]
How Workforce Credentials Can Become More Accessible After COVID-19
By Sara Weissman U.S. employers cut 20.5 million jobs in April, according to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report. Meanwhile, the national unemployment rate surged to 14.7% this month. People need work, and for some, that’s going to mean going back to school for new credentials. With the pandemic as a backdrop, a webinar – hosted by the center-left think tank Third Way and sponsored by the Lumina Foundation – explored how workforce credentialing could be made quicker and more accessible [...]
Student Parents in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Heightened Need and the Imperative for Strengthened Support
Nearly four million undergraduates, or more than one in five college students, are parents of children under 18. These student parents face—in normal times— disproportionate economic insecurity, difficulty meeting basic needs, and significant time and caregiving demands. Yet, in spite of these challenges, they are also incredibly resilient.
