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.
Impact of an Employer Mandate on Women’s Access to Health Care
DOWNLOAD REPORT President Clinton's proposed Health Security Act (HSA) guarantees all Americans health insurance coverage regardless of their marital status, employment status, or socioeconomic status. A new report by IWPR, Women's Access to Health Insurance, estimates how the workplace guarantee-- or employer [...]
Micro-enterprise and women: The Viability of Self-Employment as a Strategy for Alleviating Poverty
Supporters of micro-enterprise argue that self-employment is a strategy that can improve the economic well-being of low-income families and promote economic development in poverty stricken urban areas.
Women’s Access to Health Insurance
Women have a unique relationship to the health care system in the United States that needs to be taken into account in health care reform.
Women’s Health Insurance Costs and Experiences
This report is part of the Join Project on Women’s Health Care Policy Research of the Women’s Research and Education Institute and the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.
Women’s Access to Health Insurance (Testimony)
Testimony before the Committee on Finance, U.S. Senate, on the IWPR report Women’s Access to Health Insurance.
Income Insecurity: The Failure of Unemployment Insurance to Reach Out to Working AFDC Mothers
DOWNLOAD REPORT Unemployment Insurance (UI) was designed as a program to benefit full-time, full-year workers, usually with male bodies, facing periods of temporary layoff. In many states receipt of benefits requires relatively high prior earnings and involuntary reasons for job loss [...]
