Institute for Women's Policy Research

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.

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/

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/

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 - IWPR 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.....

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:

Breaking down barriers and advocating for Black women in the workplace | SEASON 2 - EP 1 Dr. Aleese and Dr. Jennifer discuss the current employment status of Black women and the farreaching impacts on our economic security, wellbeing, and opportu...

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/

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.

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.

IWPR’s Dr. Kate Bahn has once again been named one of Washingtonian Magazine’s 500 most influential people for her expertise on economic policy, including how limited employer competition keeps wages down and exacerbates gender and racial pay gaps.

Check out the full list—and learn about the best career advice she’s received:

Washington DC’s 500 Most Influential People of 2026 - Washingtonian Each year, we publish a special issue featuring the 500 most influential people in Washington. With changes in policy direction coming at breakneck speed, the expertise and strategic acumen of these power players have never been more crucial as they work to understand and shape rapidly shifting prio...

The Supreme Court has temporarily restored broad access to mifepristone, after a lower court’s recent ruling restricting access to in-person dispensing of the pill used for medication abortion.

The safety of medication abortion isn’t in question. These latest threats to abortion access are about controlling our bodies and our lives.

As the Fifth Circuit’s medically unnecessary ruling moves through the Supreme Court’s emergency docket, IWPR will continue to push back on misinformation and affirm that abortion is health care—and everyone deserves access, no matter where they live.

Promoting Access to Abortion - IWPR Promoting Access to Abortion Policies governing access to abortion in the US vary widely at the state level, particularly in the aftermath of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022. Since then, a patchwork of laws has emerged, with some states banning or severely restricting abortion care...