In the Lead
Breaking Barriers, Increasing Visibility for Students with Children
This guest blog post is authored by Ashlee Hernandez, a 2021 alumni of Cal Poly’s Higher Education Counseling and Student Affairs graduate program and former student parent. The article was written in connection with IWPR’s Student Parent Success Initiative. Every semester, I pleaded with my professors to release me early from class so I could run to the on-campus child care center before it became dark. To get our parking spot, I needed to walk a mile off-campus where the [...]
Anti-Abortion Laws Cost Americans—and This Supreme Court Case Threatens to Make It Worse
2021 is on track to be the most restrictive anti-abortion year ever among state legislatures. Since January, over 500 abortion restrictions have been introduced across 47 states. Already, this is the second greatest number of restrictions in one year in American history. Just last month, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law a new bill that bans abortions after detection of a fetal heartbeat, as early as six weeks. This legislation also allows private citizens to sue abortion providers. Thus, [...]
IWPR Testifies to Congress on the Importance of an Accessible, Affordable Child-Care System
The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the need for a robust child-care infrastructure in the United States. As the country emerges from the COVID-fueled recession and the Biden administration builds its recovery policy, the Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR) remains a strong advocate for the needs of parents and child-care workers. “The lack of access to affordable, reliable child care not only makes it harder for parents to work, it perpetuates systemic gender, racial, and class inequalities by relying on [...]
IWPR’s New Working Moms and the Economy Survey Finds U.S. Moms Want Policy Solutions for Care, Leave, and Jobs
Mothers bear the brunt of paid and unpaid childcare labor: Moms are the majority of childcare workers—frontline jobs which are among the lowest paid occupations for women— and take on the majority of childrearing responsibilities in their own homes. Even before the Pandemic, the motherhood penalty meant mothers earned much less than fathers even working full-time year-round. In 2019, Latina mothers made 46 cents, Indigenous mothers 50 cents, Black mothers 52 cents, White Non-Hispanic mothers 71 cents, and Asian American [...]
Working Families Need Bold Child Care Solutions – This Reintroduced Bill Could Be the First Step
For the first time in half a century, the US is close to addressing its child care crisis. In the 1970s, Congress was prompted by the shift of more women in the workforce. They nearly passed a bill that would have funded locally run childcare centers around the country, but was vetoed by then-president Nixon for being in favor of “communal approaches to child-rearing" rather than a “family-centered approach”. In both 2017 and 2019, Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Representative [...]
Young Women in the “She-cession”: Centering the Experience of Young Women of Color
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated deep-seated inequalities in the society, with communities of color and low-wage workers who are disproportionately women, racial minorities, and young workers bearing the brunt of the pandemic’s health and economic impact. Since the beginning of the pandemic, scholars and activists have called attention to the “intersectional vulnerabilities” laid bare by the pandemic. An intersectional perspective highlights how various structural inequalities interconnect and shape the unique experiences of groups situated differently on the “matrix of domination.” [...]