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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Paid Parental Leave in the United States: What the Data Tell Us about Access, Usage, and Economic and Health Benefits

This paper was prepared by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) as a part of a series of Scholars’ Papers sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau in commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of American Women: Report of the President’s Commission on the Status of Women, 1963.

Occupational Segregation and the Gender Wage Gap: A Job Half Done

This report was prepared by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) as a part of a series of Scholars’ Papers sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor Women’s Bureau in commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of American Women: Report of the President’s Commission on the Status of Women, 1963.

By Ariane Hegewisch and Heidi Hartmann|January 23, 2014|

How Equal Pay for Working Women would Reduce Poverty and Grow the American Economy

Persistent earnings inequality for working women translates into lower pay, less family income, and more poverty in families with a working woman, which is of no small consequence to working families.

By Heidi Hartmann, Jeff Hayes and Jennifer Clark|January 13, 2014|

Gender Wage Gap Projected to Close in Year 2058: Most Women Working Today Will Not See Equal Pay during their Working Lives

Gender Wage Gap Projected to Close in Year 2058: Most Women Working Today Will Not See Equal Pay during their Working Lives

By Jeff Hayes|September 18, 2013|