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.
The Minimum Wage Increase a Working Woman’s Issue
Equal pay is a fundamental issue affecting working families. While the number of women workers in the labor force has steadily increased, the contribution of women's wages to family income has also grown, with women's earnings now providing a significant portion of total household income.
Unnecessary Losses to African American Workers
When a person temporarily leaves their employment because of the arrival of a child, illness of a family member, or her or his own illness, economic costs arise for three groups: workers, employers, and society.
Raises and Recognition: Secretaries, Clerical Workers and the Union Wage Premium
Though secretarial and clerical occupations were not always female intensive, they are currently the largest women's occupational category in the US.
Women in Telecommunications: An Exception to the Rule
Women telecommunication workers are an exception to the rule that women earn low pay for the work they do.
Temporary Work
The growth of temporary work - both as offered through the temporary help services industry (THS), and directly by employers- presents some new and largely unrecognized questions of public policy.
Low-Wage Work, Health Benefits, and Family Well-Being
Departing from the outmoded view that only male breadwinners need earn a wage adequate to support a family, a study by IWPR examines the adequacy of wages and benefits of all adult workers for family support.