Economic Security, Mobility and Equity (ESME)
Whether paid or unpaid, women’s work is crucial for their families’ economic security and well-being. Greater gender equality in paid and unpaid work will reduce poverty and improve economic growth and prosperity; persistent inequity in employment and family work is costing all of us. Women are held back by the undervaluation of historically female work, workplaces designed as if workers had no family responsibilities, and a broken-down work-family infrastructure.
IWPR’s ESME program highlights the extent of pay inequalities, and the role played by stark occupational segregation in perpetuating unequal pay. We conduct research and analysis on women’s labor force participation and employment trends; workforce development, non-traditional employment, and apprenticeships; the impact of sex discrimination and harassment on women’s career advancement and mobility; the gender pay gap and pay inequity across race and ethnicity; work-family policies and employer practices; the and the impact of automation and technological advances on women workers.
We work with policymakers, employers, advocates, and practitioners to identify promising practices and policy solutions.
Native American Women Face the Highest Gender Wage Gap, Earning Barely Half of What White Men Make
This year, November 18 marks Native Women’s Equal Pay Day. In 2023, at the median, all employed Native American women, whether they worked full-time, part-time, full-year, or part-year, earned 53.6 cents per dollar compared to White men, and Native American women working full-time year- [...]
Threats to Women’s Economic Livelihoods: Impacts of the OBBB on Women and Families
This policy brief focuses on the One Big Beautiful Bill's (OBBB) impacts on women’s equitable work and wages, specifically on the issues outlined in IWPR’s Equal Pay, Minimum Wage, Better Workplaces, and Retirement and Social Security policy briefs. As millions of women experience a [...]
Double Discrimination: How Gender and Disability Shape Pay Inequities
October 23 marks the second annual Disabled Women’s Equal Pay Day—a day to call attention to one of the largest wage gaps women workers face. According to analysis from the National Women’s Law Center, disabled women earn just 56 percent of what's paid to nondisabled [...]
Latinas Paid Just 54 Cents on the Dollar in 2024, and Pay Equity Is More than 150 Years Away
October 8, 2025, marks the 10th anniversary of Latina Equal Pay Day—a campaign dedicated to recognizing the hard work, resilience, and economic contributions of Latinas across the United States. For the past decade, this initiative has brought national attention to the persistent wage gap [...]
Investing in Economic Opportunity for Women in North Carolina
This report was commissioned by the North Carolina Council for Women and Youth Involvement (CFWYI), an advocacy division housed in the North Carolina Department of Administration, and the North Carolina Council for Women (the Council), a group of 20 gubernatorial appointees who advise the [...]
Numbers Matter: Women Working in Construction
In 2024, the number of women working in construction trades was the highest ever, with 366,360 working in construction and extraction occupations. Since 2015, the number of tradeswomen has increased by almost 160,000, or 77.3 percent. Construction careers, including apprenticeships, are attracting an increasing [...]
