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.
The Impact of Equal Pay on Poverty and the Economy
DOWNLOAD REPORT Women make up almost half of the workforce, yet they continue to earn less than men on average in nearly every single occupation for which there is sufficient earnings data for both men and women to calculate an earnings ratio (Hegewisch [...]
Access to Paid Sick Time in Texas
Approximately 40 percent of workers in Texas lack paid sick time, and low-income and part-time workers are especially unlikely to be covered.
Supports that Matter in Workforce Development Programs: A National Client Survey on Access to Services
This report presents findings from a national, online survey of more than 1,800 participants in job training programs. It captures their perspectives on the role of supportive services such as child care and transportation assistance in facilitating their success in job training, the availability of supportive services across different types of training programs, the unmet support needs of program participants, and the significance of job training for their lives.
Estimating Usage and Costs of Alternative Policies to Provide Paid Family and Medical Leave in the United States
This brief summarizes a simulation analysis of five different paid family and medical leave model programs selected to show a range of generosity of provision and based on working programs in three states (California 2002 legislation and 2016 revisions, New Jersey, and Rhode Island) and a federal proposal (the FAMILY Act), all applied to the national workforce.
Estimating Usage and Costs of Alternative Policies to Provide Paid Sick Days in the United States
This brief explores the costs and benefits of alternative sick days policies applied at the national level: San Francisco’s Paid Sick Leave Ordinance, the Vermont Act, and the proposed federal Healthy Families Act.
Estimating the Distributional Impacts of Alternative Policies to Provide Paid Sick Days in the United States
DOWNLOAD REPORT This brief explores the distributional impact of three alternative policy models for providing paid sick days to U.S. workers taken from actual policies in the states (San Francisco and Vermont) and a federal proposal (Healthy Families Act). Depending on the reason [...]
