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.
New Report: Women Earn Less than Men in All Occupations, Even Ones Commonly Held by Women
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 7, 2024 Contact: William Lutz 202-785-5100 Equal Pay Day 2024 Brings Yet More Evidence of Pay Inequities for Women in the Workforce, says the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) Washington, D.C. — Women are paid eighty-four (84) cents for every [...]
What Women Can Look Forward to in 2024
The year 2023 was riddled with post-Dobbs abortion bans, attacks on gender-affirming care, near government shutdowns, and states striving to legislatively and judicially strip women of their bodily autonomy. And the spotlight on state policy action only intensified with a federal void on policies [...]
Are Cash Transfers and Guaranteed Income Programs an Answer to Poverty in the United States?
The state of poverty alleviation efforts in the United States creates an opportunity for cash transfer and guaranteed income pilots. There is an urgent need to identify and implement social policies and programs that support women’s economic empowerment and well-being. In recent years, cash [...]
High Rates of Violence and Discrimination Contribute to the Wage Inequities of Native American Women
November 30 marks Native Women’s Equal Pay Day. Native women have one of the lowest earnings ratios compared to non-Hispanic White men. In 2022, all Native women with earnings were paid 54.7 cents per dollar and Native women who worked full-time year-round were paid [...]
Native Women will not Reach Pay Equity with White Men until 2144
In 2022, Native American and Alaskan Native women with earnings (including full-time, part-time, year-round, and part-year workers) were paid only 54.7 cents per dollar paid to non-Hispanic White men (a median annual earnings ratio of 54.7 percent, and a wage gap of 45.3 percent). [...]
