Economic Security, Mobility and Equity (ESME)Administrator2023-09-30T21:30:05-05:00

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.

EPD 2024 Wage Gap Fact Sheet
On Equal Pay Day 2024, New IWPR Report Reveals that Women Earn Less than Men in All Occupations, Even Ones Commonly Held by Women

Women are paid eighty-four (84) cents for every dollar a man makes, a persistent gender wage gap that spans all professions, even those typically held by women, according to a new report released by IWPR

Wage Gap Sept 2023
Nationwide Women Still Make 84 Cents for Every Dollar a Man Makes, Won't Reach Pay Equity Until 2053

Pay inequities remain a key challenge for women in the workforce. New data shows how little progress is being made and how far we still have to go.

2023 Native Women EPD Fact Sheet
Native Women Will Not Reach Pay Equity with White Men until 2144

November 30 is Native Women's Equal Pay Day and the inequities continue. In 2022, Native American and Alaskan Native women were paid only 54.7 cents per dollar paid to non-Hispanic White men. Native women working full-time year-round were paid just 58.9 cents for every dollar (a wage gap of 41.1 percent). Read more from the latest IWPR fact sheet.

Latina EPD 2023
New Data: Latinas Will Not Reach Pay Equity with White Men until 2207

In 2022, Latinas working full-time year-round were paid just 57.5 cents for every dollar paid to White, non-Hispanic men, an astounding gap that will take almost two centuries to remedy.

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Equity in Innovation: Women Inventors and Patents

DOWNLOAD REPORT This report compiles existing data on women and patenting. It explores both women’s underrepresentation among patent holders and their relative success in being granted patents when they apply for them. The report identifies the technology classes that women are most likely [...]

By Jessica Milli, Emma Williams-Baron, Meika Berlan, Jenny Xia and Barbara Gault|December 1, 2016|

Supportive Services in Job Training and Education: A Research Review

DOWNLOAD REPORT This report presents findings from a review and analysis of literature on the importance, effectiveness, and availability of support services for participants in job training programs in the United States. It assesses current knowledge about these services by examining reports on [...]

By Cynthia Hess, Ph.D., Yana Mayayeva, Lindsey Reichlin Cruse and Mala Thakur|November 25, 2016|

Undervalued and Underpaid in America: Women in Low-Wage, Female-Dominated Jobs

This report investigates women’s experiences in large, low-wage, growing, female-dominated occupations, comparing demographic data and indicators of economic security between 1994 and 2014, and projecting growth rates to 2024.

By Elyse Shaw, Ariane Hegewisch, Emma Williams-Baron and Barbara Gault|November 17, 2016|

Breadwinner Mothers by Race/Ethnicity and State

With the large majority of U.S. mothers in the labor force and a steady decline in the real earnings of all workers over recent decades, families are increasingly relying on mothers’ earnings for economic stability. In the United States, half of all households with children under 18 have a breadwinner mother, who is either a single mother who heads a household, irrespective of earnings, or a married mother who provides at least 40 percent of the couple’s joint earnings.

By Julie Anderson|September 8, 2016|