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.
Despite Record Job Growth in March 2021, Gender Gap in Economic Recovery Widened
New March jobs data show that nearly one million (916,000) new payroll jobs were added, yet only one-third of these went to women (34.4 percent, or 315,000 payroll jobs). This marks an increased widening of the gender gap in recovery for a second month in a row. Women still need 4.6 million more jobs to get back to pre-COVID-19 levels, compared to men who need 3.8 million more jobs.
The women’s recession isn’t over — especially for moms
By Chabeli Carrazana It struck her one morning last July, when an email arrived from her son’s day care. In a flash of clarity, Emily Way knew her time in the workforce was about to end. The day care that their 2-year-old, Owen, attended was reopening in August, the email read, and families needed to start paying again if they wanted to save a spot. Way was seven months pregnant and on the cusp of unpaid maternity leave. She knew [...]
Biden’s Tax Plan Includes Paid Leave and Reducing Child-Care Costs for Parents
By Julia Carpenter On Wednesday, President Biden announced the $1.8 trillion American Families Plan. By raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans, the plan includes an expansion of the child tax credit, paid parental leave and two years of tuition-free preschool and community college—game-changers for lower-income and middle-class families. “What I like about this plan is connecting the dots,” said Jocelyn Frye, senior fellow with the Women’s Initiative at the Center for American Progress. Ms. Frye said recognizing the importance of [...]
Free Community College Proposed in the American Families Plan Will Benefit Student Parents and Families With Low Incomes For Generations
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – April 28, 2021 Contact: Erin Weber | weber@iwpr.org | (646) 719-7021 Washington, D.C. - The Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) applauds President Biden’s proposal in the American Families Plan to make historic investments in students who have existed at the margins of the current higher education system, including student parents and single mothers. “The Biden-Harris administration’s American Families Plan represents a bold step forward for building a more equitable and accessible U.S. higher education system,” [...]
Most new parents have 0 days of paid leave. Everyone could have 12 weeks under Biden’s plan.
By Caroline Kitchener Every two years, like clockwork, federal lawmakers have tried to pass legislation mandating paid family leave. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro (D-Conn.) introduced their family leave bill in 2013 — and again in 2015, 2017 and 2019. In 2021, the United States remains the only industrialized country in the world where parents are not guaranteed paid leave. President Biden introduced legislation on Wednesday that could provide new parents with the kind of financial [...]
Working Families Need Bold Child Care Solutions – This Reintroduced Bill Could Be the First Step
For the first time in half a century, the US is close to addressing its child care crisis. In the 1970s, Congress was prompted by the shift of more women in the workforce. They nearly passed a bill that would have funded locally run childcare centers around the country, but was vetoed by then-president Nixon for being in favor of “communal approaches to child-rearing" rather than a “family-centered approach”. In both 2017 and 2019, Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Representative [...]
