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.
President Biden’s State of the Union Offers Hope for Women’s Equity in the Workplace, Working Families
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 2, 2022 Contact: William Lutz | lutz@iwpr.org | (202) 684-7534 President Biden’s State of the Union Offers Hope for Women’s Equity in the Workplace, Working Families President Calls for Passage of Paycheck Fairness Act and National Family and Medical Leave Legislation [...]
The Status of Women in North Carolina: Poverty & Opportunity
In North Carolina and across the United States, women have made significant progress. Despite this, many women remain in poverty with limited access to a quality education, affordable health care services, and other supports that would give them economic security. This report looks at four indicators necessary for women’s economic success: (1) access to health insurance coverage, (2) educational attainment, (3) business ownership, and (4) poverty rates. These indicators are combined to create an index that ranks North Carolina against all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Gender Wage Gaps Remain Wide in Year Two of the Pandemic
In 2021, women earned just 83.1 percent of what men earned, based on IWPR’s analysis of median weekly earnings for full-time workers.
Conference on the U.S. Care Infrastructure to Highlight Problems and Possibilities Post-COVID
On March 4 and 5, 2022, the Institute for Women’s Policy Research will host a conference on “The U.S. Care Infrastructure: From Promise to Reality” with the American University Program on Gender Analysis in Economics and the Carework Network. With the fate of the Build [...]
Biden Announces Historic Nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, First Black Woman Nominee in U.S. History
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 25, 2022 Contact: William Lutz | lutz@iwpr.org | (202) 684-7534 Biden Announces Historic Nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, First Black Woman Nominee in U.S. History Washington, D.C. — The Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) CEO and [...]
U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team Triumphs in Landmark Equal Pay Case
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 22, 2022 Contact: William Lutz | lutz@iwpr.org | (202) 684-7534 Washington, D.C. — Today it was announced that the U.S. National Women’s Soccer team had reached a $24 million settlement with the U.S. Soccer Federation in their suit alleging gender discrimination [...]
