In the Lead
Black History Month and the Importance of Black Women’s Experiences
As a leading think-tank focusing on gender equity issues, intersectionality is a core value of IWPR. Intersectionality applies a lens to how systems of inequality based on gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, class, and other forms of discrimination intertwine to create unique dynamics and experiences. In our research and policy work, IWPR uses the tool of intersectionality to observe and analyze inequities. In honor of Black History Month, IWPR recognizes the importance of lifting up Black women's [...]
The Facts Are Clear: Unions Help Women Close the Pay Gap
You wake up; brush your teeth; get dressed. Maybe you make breakfast and send your kids off to school. You get into a car, or a bus, or a train, and commute to work. You spend the day building, or writing, or creating, or filing, or otherwise doing your job; and you do all this knowing that – despite years of hard work – you’re making less money than the men around you. This is the reality for millions of [...]
A Quest to Expand Abortion Access
On January 3, 2023, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) modified the rules that restrict access to the abortion medication mifepristone; this allows pharmacies to dispense the drug directly to patients who have a prescription. The change is a critical step toward broadening the availability of mifepristone and increasing abortion access across the United States. Although the FDA approved mifepristone in 2000, the FDA's placement of the medication on its Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS) list has historically hampered [...]
Trailblazers of the 2022 Election
This year's midterm election, held on November 8, 2022, ushered in the 118th Congress and marked historic and notable wins for women. Although women remain disproportionately underrepresented in electoral politics compared to men, a number of women across the country broke new and uncharted ground this election cycle making progress for women in politics. When the 118th Congress is sworn in on January 3, 2023, it will feature several historic “firsts.” They include Summer Lee, the first Black woman to [...]
IWPR wins $1.2 Million Competitive Research Grant from RWJF
IWPR Receives $1.2 Million Competitive Research Grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Urban Institute to establish new Research and Policy Hub The Institute for Women’s Policy Research and the Center for Community Resilience at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University has been awarded $1.2 million to establish a new research hub that will explore the root causes of racial, economic, and health disparities and how they might be overcome to advance equitable outcomes [...]
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
There is less than a month left in the current session of Congress and the Senate has several critical pieces of legislation still pending. With control of Congress divided next year, it’s essential that the Senate take action immediately on the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (H.R.1065/S.1486). The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, or PWFA, is a bipartisan bill that prohibits employment discrimination against pregnant workers. Expressly, the bill: Requires employers to accommodate employees affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions [...]
