Trends in Employment and Earnings
Women’s status in the area of employment and earnings has improved on two indicators since the publication of IWPR’s last national report on the status of women, the 2004 Status of Women in the States, and remained unchanged or declined on two others. Women’s median annual earnings for full-time, year-round work in 2013 ($39,157) were nearly identical to their earnings for similar work in 2002 ($39,108 when adjusted to 2013 dollars). The gender earnings ratio improved during this time from 76.6 to 78.3 percent, narrowing the gender wage gap by 1.7 percentage points, and the share of women working in professional or managerial occupations grew from 33.2 to 39.9 percent. Women’s labor force participation rate, however, declined from 59.6 in 2002 to 57.0 percent in 2014.
Wages and Salaries of Child Care Workers: The Economic and Social Implications of Raising Child Care Workers’ Salaries
As more and more mothers enter the paid labor force, and/or work outside of the home, increasing numbers and proportions of children are experiencing care provided in a group context, and/or by someone other than their own parents.
OPM Comparable Worth / Pay Equity Study Overstates Women’s Progress In Federal Workplace
A recent report by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) contains numerous misleading conclusions about women’s progress in the federal government and the impact of pay equity (also known as comparable worth) on women’s future employment gains in this sector.
Costs to Women and Their Families of Childbirth and Lack of Parental Leave
Testimony before the Subcommittee on Children, Families, Drugs and Alcoholism, Committee on Labor and Human Resources, U.S., using figures and charts from IWPR’s study Unnecessary Losses: Costs to Americans of the Lack of Family and Medical Leave.
