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.
Women’s Jobs Fell First, Fastest. What Else Did Pandemic Show?
by Jessica Mendoza and Samantha Laine Perfas Millions of women, especially women of color, left the U.S. workforce during the pandemic. The reasons ranged from layoffs to burnout to the pressures of caring for children or other family members. Among the losses, by some accounts, is a generation’s worth of progress in women’s participation in the workforce. But it’s more than sheer numbers. “What the pandemic has really shone a spotlight on is all the weak points in our system [...]
Student Parents are Key to Our Post-Pandemic Recovery
By Larissa M. Mercado-Lopez As students quickly shifted to remote learning with the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, Ashley de Jesus shifted to another reality — parenthood. In addition to adjusting to a new learning landscape, Ashley, a single mother, found herself navigating a social welfare system whose offices were being shuttered. She recalls feeling unmotivated to study as she continued to work (virtually) and adjust to a newborn. She even considered taking a semester off. But the promise she [...]
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 [...]
