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.
Different Day, Still No Equal Pay: Black Women Deserve Better
Black Women’s Equal Pay Day—a day to bring awareness to the extreme pay inequity that Black women face in the United States—is on July 9 this year. A new fact sheet from IWPR finds that, across the country, Black women with earnings make 66.5 [...]
Black Women Won’t Reach Pay Equity Until 2227
This fact sheet shows that Black women face a substantial gap in earnings compared to White men in each state. Progress has slowed markedly during the last 20 years compared to a longer time horizon. Based on trends during the last two decades, it [...]
The LGBTQIA+ Community Needs More Than Equal Pay
This year, June 13 marks LGBTQIA+ Equal Pay Awareness Day—a day to recognize the wage gap between lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQIA+) workers and their straight and cisgender counterparts. On average, in 2021, LGBTQIA+ workers earned 90 cents per dollar compared to all [...]
The Retirement Income Gap Leaves Women Aged 65+ at Higher Risk of Poverty than Men
At 32.6 percent, the gender gap in retirement income—the sum of pension and Social Security income—was 4.0 percent larger than the 28.0 percent gender gap in median earnings in 2021. Women’s account balances are the main driver of this gap. Read more on this [...]
Toward Equity: After a Decade of Progress, Gaps in Access to Paid Sick Leave Remain
This blog originally appeared on the Policies for Action (P4A) website. The importance of paid sick leave was underscored in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the world grappled with the challenges of a global health crisis, the simple act of staying home when [...]
IWPR Celebrates Finalization of Protections for Pregnant Workers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 15, 2024 Contact: William Lutz 202-785-5100 Washington, DC — Dr. Jamila K. Taylor, President and CEO of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), issued the following statement today in response to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s release of a [...]
