Join us for IWPR’s 2026 Power+ Summit, The Power Grid: Driving Gender Equity Forward, taking place September 28–29 in Detroit, MI.
Together, we will spark bold ideas, share breakthroughs, and shape the future of gender equity.
An estimated 43 million American workers have no access to paid leave. They’re mostly low-wage workers, already strained when recovering after the birth of a child, for example, or tending to a sick kid. Top earners, on the other hand, tend to receive the benefits through employers, according to a recent survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics .
The problem compounds for single mothers who lack the benefits. Some economists argue closing the wage gap would lift nearly half out of poverty, according to a report from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.