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.
Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Women and the Wage Gap
April 3 is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Equal Pay Day. New IWPR research finds that in 2022, for full-time year-round workers, AANHPI women were paid just 92.7 cents per dollar earned by White men. AANHPI women made less than White [...]
As Apprenticeships Expand, Breaking Down Occupational Segregation Is Key to Women’s Economic Success
Apprenticeships are structured training programs that combine paid on-the-job learning with classroom instruction and provide a pathway to industry-recognized qualifications in in-demand occupations. For workers, the apprenticeship route can offer an alternative to traditional college (and college debt), yet traditionally, women have been much [...]
Numbers Matter: Women Working in Construction
In 2023, the number of women working in the trades reached the highest level ever, with 363,651 working in construction and extraction occupations. In the five years since 2018, the number of tradeswomen increased by more than 80,000, a growth of 28.3 percent. Construction [...]
New Report: Women Earn Less than Men in All Occupations, Even Ones Commonly Held by Women
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 7, 2024 Contact: William Lutz 202-785-5100 Equal Pay Day 2024 Brings Yet More Evidence of Pay Inequities for Women in the Workforce, says the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) Washington, D.C. — Women are paid eighty-four (84) cents for [...]
Women Earn Less than Men Whether They Work in the Same or Different Occupations
Whether women work full-time year-round, full-time per week, or whether all women with earnings are included, they face a substantial wage gap. Women who worked full-time year- round in 2022 made just 84.0 cents on the dollar paid to men. In 2023, the weekly [...]
