COVID-19 and Recovery Response

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.

Women Fall Further Behind Men in the Recovery and are 5.8 Million Jobs below pre-COVID Employment Levels, Compared with 5.0 million fewer for Men

Decline in Household Income During Pandemic Contributes to Food Insufficiency

Halting Recovery Leaves Women’s Unemployment in Double Digits, and Women’s Payroll Employment Still 6.9 Million Below Pre-Crisis Levels

Prioritizing Student Parents in COVID-19 Response and Relief

This briefing paper outlines how state and federal policymakers can center the immediate and longerterm needs of student parents in policy responses to the pandemic, so that they are able to safeguard their families’ economic well-being and continue along their pathway to college attainment.

Economy Adds More Jobs for Women Than Men, But Women Still 8 Million Jobs-on-Payroll Below February and Majority of All Who Lost Jobs

Holding Up Half the Sky: Mothers as Workers, Primary Caregivers, & Breadwinners During COVID-19

The loss of jobs in sectors dominated by women will have a devastating impact of families, especially those headed by single mothers or where women are the primary or co-breadwinner. One in two of more than 30 million families in the U.S. with children under the age of 18 have a breadwinner mother, who contributes at least 40 percent of the earnings to the household.

Despite modest employment gains, women still 5.5 million jobs below pre-pandemic level. Unemployment for Black and Hispanic women remains high.
Gallery
Despite modest employment gains, women still 5.5 million jobs below pre-pandemic level. Unemployment for Black and Hispanic women remains high.

Press Releases

Despite modest employment gains, women still 5.5 million jobs below pre-pandemic level. Unemployment for Black and Hispanic women remains high.

New October jobs data show women remain 5.5 million jobs below February's levels. Despite women gaining 280,000 (43.9 percent) of 638,000 new non-farm payroll jobs since October and adult women having lower unemployment rates (6.5 percent) than men (6.7 percent) for the first time since April, stubborn trends continue.

By Keri Potts|November 6, 2020|Press Releases|

The Pandemic is Bad for Mental Health. There Are Immediate Solutions.
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The Pandemic is Bad for Mental Health. There Are Immediate Solutions.

In the Lead

The Pandemic is Bad for Mental Health. There Are Immediate Solutions.

COVID-19 is having disastrous effects on people’s mental health. Communities of color are suffering the greatest health and economic losses. It doesn't have to be this way.

By Adiam Tesfaselassie|October 27, 2020|In the Lead|

Three Ways to Build on the Families First Coronavirus Response Act
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Three Ways to Build on the Families First Coronavirus Response Act

In the Lead

Three Ways to Build on the Families First Coronavirus Response Act

Three Ways to Build On the Families First Coronavirus Response Act A new study in the journal Health Affairs this week, “COVID-19 Emergency Sick Leave Significantly Reduced US COVID-19 Cases”, finds that the emergency paid leave in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) reduced the number of COVID-19 cases. Between mid-March (FFCRA was enacted on March 18) and the end of May, an average of 400 cases per day in each state were averted by providing a new right [...]

By Jeff Hayes|October 20, 2020|In the Lead|

‘If We Had a Panic Button, We’d be Hitting it.’ Women Are Exiting the Labor Force En Masse—And That’s Bad For Everyone
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‘If We Had a Panic Button, We’d be Hitting it.’ Women Are Exiting the Labor Force En Masse—And That’s Bad For Everyone

Press Hits

‘If We Had a Panic Button, We’d be Hitting it.’ Women Are Exiting the Labor Force En Masse—And That’s Bad For Everyone

The United States is in the midst of a crushing economic recession, COVID-19 infection rates are spiking, and thousands of schools and childcare facilities have yet to reopen in-person classrooms. The group bearing the brunt of this torrent of bad news? Women.

By IWPR|October 17, 2020|Press Hits|

Women Are Deciding Not to Have Babies Because of the Pandemic. That’s Bad for All of Us
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Women Are Deciding Not to Have Babies Because of the Pandemic. That’s Bad for All of Us

Press Hits

Women Are Deciding Not to Have Babies Because of the Pandemic. That’s Bad for All of Us

BY ELIANA DOCKTERMAN When women leave work—even for just a year, as many mothers are considering now—their long-term earning potential plummets. The Institute for Women’s Policy Research conducted a study that found the earnings over time of women who took just a year off work between 2001 and 2015 were 39% lower than those of women who didn’t take time off. The exit of large numbers of women from the workforce is bad not just for individual women and their families. It’s bad [...]

By IWPR|October 15, 2020|Press Hits|