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.
Evaluating the Role of Campus Child Care in Student Parent Success
To ensure student parents are wholly supported in their educational pathways, research is needed to understand the connection between quality, affordable child care and student parents’ academic outcomes. Yet several challenges persist that make rigorous study of this connection difficult. Drawing on interviews with campus child care directors and a review of data and relevant literature, this brief presents a snapshot of the availability and importance of campus child care services for student parent success. It concludes with recommendations to improve conditions for rigorous research on the role of campus child care in the outcomes of college students with children.
How to best serve the full range of issues faced by survivors of domestic violence
The Boston Globe By Deborah Collins-Gousby It has been well documented that the pandemic — and its ensuing and persistent economic impacts — have had a devastating impact on low-income communities and particularly on communities of color. Loss of income, the reduced availability of affordable child [...]
Meghan Markle Gets Political With an Open Letter Advocating for Paid Family Leave
The Root By Maiysha Kai Meghan, the mom of two has entered the chat. The Duchess of Sussex—best known to us commoners as Meghan Markle—took yet another departure from royal protocol this week, penning an open letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority [...]
Women and People of Color Lose Thousands Because of Pay Gap
Governing Magazine (TNS) — California women and people of color are still getting paid substantially less than white men despite new state laws and policies designed to promote equal wages, according to recent analyses of data. On average, full-time female workers in California earned 87.6 [...]
Today is Latina Equal Pay Day, or the day Latina workers finally earn what non-Hispanic white men made in just 2020
Business Insider By Madison Hoff October 21 is Latina Equal Pay Day, or the approximate day it would take for Latinas to earn what non-Hispanic white men made in just 2020. This means that Latinas had to work almost 22 months, or nearly 10 extra [...]
Latinas can’t wait the 200 years it will take to close the wage gap
Detroit Free Press By JoAnn Chavez and Monica Reyes October 21 is considered Latina Equal Pay Day. It’s not exactly an honor. Latina Equal Pay Day is the last of several commemorative days marking the ongoing wage gaps for women in the United States — and [...]