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.
New Jobs Report Shows Strong Growth—But Increase in Unemployment Highlights Persistent Challenges
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – July 2, 2021 Contact: Erin Weber | weber@iwpr.org | (646) 719-7021 Washington, DC – This month’s jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) confirms substantial growth, with 405,000 new jobs on payroll for women (47.6% of 850,000 total). Yet, women’s jobs on payroll are still 3.8 million below pre-COVID-19 level, a greater number of jobs still missing than for men (3 million fewer jobs). Women gained jobs in most sectors, with the strongest growth [...]
Knowing What Your Co-Worker Makes Doesn’t Close the Pay Gap
By Emma Goldberg Carolyn Kopprasch earns $225,000 a year. Maria Thomas makes $267,890. Then comes Darcy Peters with a salary of $105,143. That information, taken in before I exchange pleasantries with these women, feels almost illicit — like the confessions of a stranger oversharing at a bar. We’ve never spoken before, and there is a certain intimacy that comes from picking up the phone to call someone knowing nothing but her name and her salary. And there is also, some [...]
To Stop “She-Cession”, Employers Need to Better Meet Women’s Work Needs, Advocates Say
By Kim Glovas Women have been hit with unemployment and job insecurity much harder than men during the pandemic. That was the focus of a Women 100 conference last week hosted by Drexel University's Institute for Women's Health and Leadership. Women 100 was founded to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the right to vote for women in America, and to continue the work for gender equity. Close to 900,000 women left the workforce during the pandemic, according to the National [...]
Impact of She-Cession Not Being Felt Equally Among Women, Experts Say
By Brianna Kudisch State officials, policymakers, and leading academics virtually met Friday morning to discuss the pandemic’s disproportionate impact on women and offer policy solutions, during the New Jersey Treasurer’s symposium on COVID, women, and the economy. Partly inspired by NJ Advance Media’s reporting on the pandemic’s impact on women, the event featured speakers on two panels, ranging from academics, legislators, and members of Gov. Phil Murphy’s cabinet, along with stories from regular New Jersey women. “There’s an old African [...]
Modest Job Gains for Women Signal Slow Recovery—with Child Care and School Re-Openings as Major Barriers to Full Return to Work
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – June 4, 2021 Contact: Erin Weber | weber@iwpr.org | (646) 719-7021 This month’s jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that more women returned to the workforce than men, and women gained employment. The Institute for Women’s Policy Research analysis of BLS data shows a return to modest growth, with 314,000 new jobs on payroll for women (56.2% of 559,000 total). Women’s jobs on payroll are still 4.2 million below pre-COVID-19 level, compared with 3.5 million fewer [...]
Women Who Lost Jobs in Pandemic May Wait Years to Work Again
By Francesca Chambers Women who lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic could be waiting until 2023 to work again, experts warn, even if economic initiatives President Joe Biden has proposed become law. It could take more than two years for women’s employment to return to pre-pandemic levels because the industries women worked in were hit the hardest, according to the National Women’s Law Center, an organization that publishes monthly reports on how the pandemic is affecting women’s employment. Most [...]
