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.
Using Temporary Disability Insurance to Provide Paid Family Leave: A Comparison with the Family and Medical Leave Act
Although women have gradually become more established members of the labor force and mothers' earnings have become more critical to family well-being than in the past, women still provide the bulk of primary caregiving as mothers, wives and daughters.
Food Stamps and AFDC: A Double Life-Line for Low-income Working Single Mothers
The Food Stamp Program, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in partnership with state and local governments, is the largest food assistance program in the United States.
Are Mommies Dropping Out of the Labor Force? No!
Despite a spate of recent news articles reporting a slow down and even reversal of the long-term growth in women’s labor force participation– articles that assume the reversal is led by mothers anxious to stay at home with their children– the data show that most mothers are continuing to increase their participation in the labor force, even during the current recession. More women are working than ever before. Married mothers and mothers of very young children have increased their labor force participation most.
Affirmative Action in Employment: An Overview
An IWPR briefing paper providing a review of the employment and wages of white women, black men, and black women relative o white men after implementation of affirmative action policies.
Status of Women in the States: Fact Sheet
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The Effectiveness of Equal Employment opportunities Policies
A chapter published in Economic Perspectives on Affirmative Action, Margaret C. Simms (ed.), University Press of America, 1995.
