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.
OPM Comparable Worth / Pay Equity Study Overstates Women’s Progress In Federal Workplace
A recent report by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) contains numerous misleading conclusions about women’s progress in the federal government and the impact of pay equity (also known as comparable worth) on women’s future employment gains in this sector.
Costs to Women and Their Families of Childbirth and Lack of Parental Leave
Testimony before the Subcommittee on Children, Families, Drugs and Alcoholism, Committee on Labor and Human Resources, U.S., using figures and charts from IWPR’s study Unnecessary Losses: Costs to Americans of the Lack of Family and Medical Leave.
The Labor Market, The Working Poor, and Welfare Reform: Policy Suggestions for the Clinton Administration
Research conducted by the Institute for Women's Policy Research suggests that two types of strategies are needed to solve the programs of the working poor and to improve the living standards of the millions who currently depend on welfare.