Press Releases
Big Bold Relief Bill Will Help Millions of Women and Families and Will Lead to the End the She-cession
Washington, DC – IWPR applauds the House and the Senate and President Biden for enacting the American Rescue Plan, an historic relief package that will uplift women and families. “Women and families are facing extraordinary challenges that require bold solutions,” said C. Nicole Mason, PhD, President and CEO of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR). “Now they will finally get some of the help they need to survive the pandemic with the delivery of this landmark relief package.”
New Report Lifts up the Voices of Black, Latina and Afro-Latina Women in the Construction Trades
Washington, D.C. – A new policy brief, “Here to Stay: Black, Latina and Afro-Latina Women in Construction Trades Apprenticeships and Employment,” highlights that while the number of Black women apprentices grew by over 50 percent and the number of Latina apprentices nearly doubled between 2016 and 2019, Black and Latina women remain severely underrepresented (3.6 percent) in federally registered trade apprenticeships.
New Jobs Numbers Show that Women Recovered fewer than Half of All Jobs Lost since February 2020
Washington, DC— While new Employment Situation data for February shows a 245,000 increase in women’s jobs on payroll (64.6% of all added jobs), women are still 5.1 million jobs below February 2020, compared with 4.4 million fewer jobs on payroll for men; at its deepest level in April 2020 women’s payroll employment was down 12.1 million.
Gender Wage Gap Shrinks in 2020 Due to Tremendous Job Losses for Lowest Paid – Racial and Ethnic Disparities Persist
Washington, DC – A new policy brief, The Weekly Gender Wage Gap by Race and Ethnicity: 2020 from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), provides the first data on COVID-19’s impact on the gender wage gap. It finds that the wage gap narrowed, but reasons for the change point to growing inequality instead of progress for women. Women’s average earnings increased more than men’s because lowest paid women were the most likely to lose jobs during the COVID-19 shecession – and are no longer counted in the average women’s weekly median earnings. As a result of the missing lowest-paid women, the gender wage gap narrowed, between all women and men, and between women and men by race and ethnicity.
IWPR Statement of the Passage of the 1.9 Trillion Stimulus Plan by the House
IWPR applauds the passage of the 1.9 Trillion Stimulus plan by the House of Representatives, and encourages the Senate to do the same. The robust and historic recovery package enjoys high public support and will provide necessary economic support to families hit hardest by the COVID-fueled economic downturn.
Women to Biden Administration and Congress: Affordable Healthcare, the Economic Recession and Jobs are Top Priorities, New National Survey Finds
Washington, DC—New National Survey by IWPR finds in first 100 days and beyond, affordable, high-quality healthcare, getting the economic recession under control, and job creation are top priorities for women for the new Administration and Congress.