Institute for Women's Policy Research

06/05/2026

The Jobs Report for May shows higher-than-expected job gains, but some concerning trends still lurk beneath those big numbers—along with signs that the fruits of economic growth are not evenly distributed. 
 
After a year and a half of volatile unemployment, Black women’s unemployment rate fell to the lowest it’s been since March of last year. But the persistent gap compared with White women remains.  
 
Child care workers continued to lose jobs, with 9,500 jobs lost since the beginning of the year. Declines in this essential infrastructure may reflect tightening family budgets amid inflation, worsening work conditions, or changes in mothers’ labor force participation.  
 
While there was relatively little change in women’s labor force participation or the number of discouraged women workers, last year’s steep declines in Black mothers’ labor force participation, as shown in work by , demonstrates the need for more research on how caregiving responsibilities, tech-related job displacement, and the availability of paid leave affects women’s workforce participation. 
 
Learn more about this month’s report from IWPR’s Dr. Kate Bahn .

06/04/2026

Do you want to learn how to turn research into a revolution? Are you ready to build power to drive gender equity forward?

This September, join us for Power+ 2026 in Detroit as we continue to generate momentum for a more equitable and sustainable future, even in the face of rollback and regression. Learn from movement leaders, hear real stories that energize and inspire, and build the networks that can support and sustain your work for the fight ahead.

Register now and get ready to connect, recharge, and help us build our power grid together: https://gatsby.events/iwpr/rsvp/register?e=iwpr-presents-power-2026-the-power-grid-driving-gender-equity-forward

06/02/2026

Happy from IWPR! We honor and celebrate LGBTQIA+ communities, and affirm that the fight for LGBTQIA+ rights is a fight for gender and economic equity.

06/01/2026

The Trump administration thinks science should follow the president’s priorities — not the facts.

Ideologically driven attacks on DEI have already had devastating effects on our nation’s research. Now, a proposed rule would cement the administration’s political control over research grants, putting key decisions about funding in the hands of political appointees instead of actual experts.

Research and science should be backed by peer review — not political interference. Sign up for weekly newsletter to learn more: https://iwpr.org/sign-up/

05/30/2026

Comprehensive s*x ed is linked to both education success and better health. As month draws to a close, we know that all students deserve inclusive and accurate information so they can make choices that are right for them and their own bodily autonomy.

Yet only 15% of community college students report having received comprehensive s*x ed. They’re also less likely to have access to s*xual health resources than peers at four-year colleges. And as our recent research brief revealed, 17 out of 20 are concerned about their school’s lack of STI and pregnancy prevention resources. In fact, the vast majority believe their college should be responsible for providing s*x education to all incoming students.

Community colleges are engines of upward economic mobility. Promoting students’ s*xual and reproductive health is critical to their overall well-being. Read more in our recent research brief: https://iwpr.org/filling-the-gap-community-college-students-expect-s*xual-health-education-on-campus/

05/29/2026

Earlier this month, Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger vetoed a bill that would require employers to provide reasonable accommodations for workers experiencing menopause and perimenopause-related symptoms.

According to the Society for Women’s Health Research, more than 75% of women work throughout their menopause transition, and related symptoms play a significant role in career decisions and opportunities. Meanwhile, a Mayo Clinic study estimates that those symptoms cost $1.8 billion in lost work time every year.

Despite impacting half the workforce, menopause is largely unaddressed in workplaces. And women of color, who hold a disproportionate share of low-paying jobs, are more likely to be negatively impacted by workplaces that don’t make related accommodations.

Learn more about policy solutions related to workplace protections and reproductive health care across women’s lifespans:

Reproductive Health Care Across the Lifespan While funding, research, and advocacy concerning maternal health, contraception, and abortion have increased following the 2022 Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, there remains a dearth of information about—and policy attention to—women.....

05/15/2026

The news earlier this week that inflation rose to 3.8% last month—the highest in nearly 3 years—came on the heels of an April jobs report showing that Black women’s unemployment rose to 6.5%.

When the prices of basic necessities spike, it makes it harder for families to manage the costs of other needs—especially for women, who are the backstop in family caregiving.

This is particularly true for Black women, nearly 4 out of 5 of whom are family breadwinners. Last month, IWPR’s Dr. Jennifer Turner joined the Black Women Talking Back podcast with Rev. Dr. Aleese Moore-Orbih to discuss IWPR’s recent analysis finding that Black women have faced job losses over the last year at a rate far exceeding their representation in the labor market.

“If we want different outcomes, we have to make different choices—choices that actually value Black women’s work, protect their employment, and recognize how central Black women are to the economy,” Dr. Turner said. “Because we know that when Black women are economically secure, there’s a ripple effect for their families, their communities, and the economy as a whole.”

If you haven’t yet had the chance yet, listen now:

Dr. Aleese and Dr. Jennifer discuss the current employment status of Black women and the farreaching impacts on our economic security, wellbeing, and opportu...

05/14/2026

This week, the Trump administration unveiled a new website that pretends to offer resources for new and expecting mothers—but in reality, it’s just pronatalist propaganda that does little to truly help women and families.

Want to know what will actually help? Here are four things the Trump administration and Congress should do to support parents’ health and well-being—and none of them include referring to women as “underbabied.”

https://iwpr.org/here-are-four-better-ways-to-support-women-and-families-than-trumps-pronatalist-propaganda-website/

05/10/2026

We owe unpaid caregivers $1 trillion.

That’s the value of all the unpaid care work—overwhelmingly provided by women and mothers—in the US in 2024. And it’s central to the inequities women and mothers face in the labor market.

This work is the invisible infrastructure of our economy. Underinvestment in our care system leaves caregivers, overwhelmingly mothers, to figure out for themselves how to juggle work and families all while the system depends on their unpaid labor to function.

As we fight for policies that would give them the support they need to both provide for their loved ones and ensure their own economic well-being, IWPR honors the caregivers and mothers who provide the care that holds families—and our society—together.

05/08/2026

Hundreds of pregnancy-related deaths occur in the U.S. each year. And 86% of pregnancy-related deaths were preventable.

Yesterday, IWPR’s Jesseca Boyer joined Maternal and Child Health Appropriations Alliance partners on Capitol Hill to call on Congress to provide crucial and robust funding for maternal and child health.

The US still ranks among the highest in maternal and infant mortality rates of all wealthy countries, with wide racial disparities. Without continued and consistent funding to further reduce mortality rates these numbers are likely to increase—and mothers, children, and their families will suffer.