INSTITUTEINSTITUTE for for QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER Women’sQUARTERLY Policy NEWSLETTER Research Women’s Policy Research Special Edition: IWPR Culminates Groundbreaking Series on the Status of Women in the United States, 2015 By Sarah Blugis, Communications Intern and in each state. The report found that if tury. Overall, the best place for women’s Rachel Linn, Communications Associate current trends continue, women in the employment and earnings is the District On May 20, IWPR released the Status of United States will not achieve equal pay of Columbia, while the worst is West Women in the States: 2015 comprehen- until 2058, and in five states women will Virginia. The grades take into account sive full report, providing national and not see equal pay until the next cen- women’s earnings, the (cont’d on p. 3) state-level data on women’s progress in 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the United States overall. IWPR desig- nated the best and worst states based on scores on composite indices developed by IWPR—Employment & Earnings, Poverty & Opportunity, Health & Well- Being, Reproductive Rights, Political Par- ticipation, and on Work & Family, a new composite index for the 2015 edition. The report also features national and state data on Violence & Safety. Minnesota received the top ranking, while Missis- sippi and Alabama tied for worst. Since the first Status of Women in the States release in 1996, the reports have been used to inspire community and private investment in programs and policies that improve women’s lives throughout the United States. The report and 51 state fact sheets are available for download on the project’s interactive website, www.statusofwomen- data.org. Each topic section on the web- IWPR data on the status of millennial women was featured in a Glamour magazine exclusive. site includes data by race and ethnicity, The map, above, highlights trends pertaining to millennial women in each state. making the website the most accessible, comprehensive source of state-level data on women of color in the United States. How Partners are Using IWPR’s In March, IWPR released the first report Status of Women in the States Data in the series, Employment & Earnings, By Sarah Blugis, Communications Intern and giving interviews to NPR affiliate KPLU which included first-ever projections Rachel Linn, Communications Associate for when the gender wage gap will close and The Seattle Times, Women’s Funding IWPR partnered with over 50 local, Alliance staff traveled throughout Wash- state, and national organizations for ington to share the data with employ- TABLE OF CONTENTS Status of Women in the States: 2015. Us- ers, policymakers, program providers, ing Status of Women data, policymakers funders, and advocates. and advocates reach out to the media and The Women’s Fund of Southeastern President’s Message ...... 2 raise awareness about women’s needs in Massachusetts localized IWPR’s data Status of Women Launch, cont’d ...... 3 the states and communities to advance for counties in their area, highlighting Status of Women Release Event ...... 4 the interest of women and their families. poverty rates in nearby cities, and held a The Seattle-based Women’s Funding Al- press conference with the Mayor of New Status of Women Partners, cont’d...... 6 liance is using findings from the Status of Bedford, MA. The group also sat down Media Highlights...... 6 Women in the States to focus attention on with local editorial boards to present data women’s leadership and economic oppor- from the Status of Women in the States Summer 2015 tunity in Washington State. In addition to report, resulting in stories (cont’ d on p. 6)

I W P R President’s Message Board of Directors At IWPR’s wide-ranging media coverage, this year Holly Fechner, Chair May 20th marks the first time that popular culture Lorretta Johnson, Vice Chair release event has been so in tune with the work that Susan Meade, Secretary Sylphiel Yip, Treasurer for The Status we do at IWPR. The employment chap- William Baer of Women ter was featured on “The Daily Show” Martha Darling in the States: in a very creative ‘newscast’ by Kristin Ellen Delany 2015, “Achiev- Schaal, as well as “Inside Amy Schumer!” Cindy Estrada ing Gender I’m almost afraid to watch the Schumer Lynn Gitlitz David A. Goslin Equality in our episode “Not cool with it,” let alone “Sexy Ellen Karp Lifetimes: A Bold Vision for Advancing Rodeos,” both of which linked directly to Kai-yan Lee the Status of Women,” I made closing our web page on pay equity, crashing the Cynthia Lloyd remarks that I would like to share with IWPR website in the middle of the night! William Rodgers, III you here. I began by thanking our Board The times, they really are a changing! Sheila Wellington Marcia Worthing Chair, Holly Fechner, who not only gave When we see these kinds of issues being Cathy Zoi me a generous introduction but emceed raised at the Academy Awards and on Leslie Platt Zolov the entire event superbly; our fantastic “The Daily Show,” it illustrates something speakers; our many Board members who special going on in our society—a new, Staff were present; and the financial supporters pervasive awareness of the injustice faced Heidi Hartmann, Ph.D., President of this important project, including the by women coupled with the presence of Barbara Gault, Ph.D., Vice President and Executive Director Ford Foundation, the American Federa- women in a position to do something Research tion of Teachers, and the Women’s Fund- about it. Glamour, another popular cul- Jeffrey Hayes, Ph.D., Study Director ing Network. I also acknowledged NOW ture vehicle, kicked off the media blitz of Ariane Hegewisch, Study Director and OWL, two national women’s organi- IWPR’s work in their spring fashion issue, Cynthia Hess, Ph.D., Study Director Jessica Milli, Ph.D., Senior Research Associate zations that also supported this project. which hit the stands in February. Glam- Chandra Childers, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Research Fellow This report marks IWPR’S first compre- our featured IWPR’s customized research Julie Anderson, Research Associate hensive national report on the Status of on millennial women and also designed a Lindsey Reichlin, Research Associate and Program Manager Women in the States (SWS) since 2004. fabulous U.S. map in hot pink (see cover), Elyse Shaw, Research Associate Between 1996 and 2004 IWPR produced capturing something unique about the Mary Sykes, Research and Program Coordinator Yana Mayayeva, Research Assistant 5 national reports and 51 reports on status of young women in each state with Jenny Xia, Research Assistant every state in the nation and the District just a few words. Administration of Columbia. While that series ended in This raised consciousness and height- Janet Mullen, Director of Finance and Human Resources 2004, IWPR has continued to produce ened visibility indicate to me that we are Gina Chirillo, Special Assistant to the President dozens of individual reports for states, likely to see a lot more organizing and Erin Thorp, IT & Business Operations Specialist Development localities, and regions commissioned by activity around these issues in the U.S, as Ryan Koch, Director of Development various organizations and foundations. our speaker and MacArthur Fellow Ai- Rachel Eichhorn, Development Coordinator This is the first time in 11 years that Jen Poo called for, making women’s issues Communications IWPR has had the opportunity to pro- central to the upcoming elections. Jennifer Clark, Senior Communications Manager duce a comprehensive national report on While the issue of unequal pay has Mallory Mpare, Senior Communications Associate the status of women in the United States. been discussed by politicians for several Rachel Linn, Communications Associate I must acknowledge the many contri- decades without resolution, we are start- Affiliated Researchers Cynthia Deitch, Ph.D., butions of IWPR’s staff, especially the out- ing to see new tools being introduced The George Washington University (GWU) standing leadership of Dr. Cyndi Hess, a to achieve pay equity. One is employer Cynthia Harrison, Ph.D., super competent and completely unflap- disclosure of the gender pay gap, which is The George Washington University (GWU) Jane Henrici, Ph.D., pable Study Director who coordinated the now required in some states and locali- The George Washington University (GWU) many moving parts of this project over a ties for businesses to compete for city Avis Jones-DeWeever, Ph.D., period of 18 months, writing much of the and state contracts. Non-retaliation for Founder of the Exceptional Leadership report herself, mobilizing a team of staff talking about pay, while a federal right Institute for Women Sunhwa Lee, Ph.D., Asian Development Bank members and interns who put in tremen- already, is most honored in the breach, so Jennifer Lucas, Ph.D., St. Anselm College dous effort to analyze and fact check data, new tools are being developed to make Gwendolyn Mink, Ph.D., present the data in tables and graphics, that right real in practice. Several states Senior Consulting Political Scientist and meet the many deadlines this project have now passed non-retaliation laws, Lois Shaw, Ph.D., Senior Consulting Economist required. The oversight of my right-hand and since last year federal contractors are Mildred Warner, Ph.D., Cornell University person, Dr. Barbara Gault, IWPR’s Vice now explicitly forbidden from retaliating Institute for Women’s Policy Research President & Executive Director, was when workers share pay information. 1200 18th Street, NW, Suite 301 Washington, DC 20036 instrumental in bringing the work to its And remember IWPR has calculated Tel: 202/785-5100 Fax: 202/833-4362 fruition. Senior Communications Man- that if women were to get equal pay with www.iwpr.org Blog: iwpr.org/blog ager Jennifer Clark, who led a small, very comparable men, the poverty rate for @IWPResearch able Communications team, worked tire- families with a working woman would be IWPR, an independent, non-profit, lessly to ensure the extensive coverage of cut in half, not even counting the likeli- scientific research organization, works in affiliation each SWS chapter as it was released. hood that higher wages would induce with the graduate programs in women’s studies and public policy and public administration at While the reports typically receive women to work more hours. (con’t on p. 3) The George Washington University. page 2 SWS Launch continued from p. 1 Map 3.1. Work & Family Composite Index gender wage gap, labor force participa- tion, and women’s representation in pro- fessional and managerial occupations. In April, IWPR released the second re- port in the series on Poverty & Opportu- nity, finding that in every state women are more likely than men to live in poverty. Strikingly, Millennial women are much more likely than their male counterparts to have a bachelor’s degree, but have lower earnings than men in all but one state (New York). To complete this report, IWPR ranked and graded the states on four indicators: educational attainment, business ownership, poverty, and access to health insurance coverage. Overall, the status of women with respect to poverty and opportunity has worsened in the ma- jority of states (29) in the last decade. Three more reports – Health & Well- The map above on the IWPR Work & Family Composite Index is an example of the many Being, Reproductive Rights, and Violence maps that can be found in the full report, highlighting geographic trends on the status of women in the United States. & Safety – were released in early May. IWPR found wide health disparities access to abortion and contraception, Office Index, which indicates a wide gap across the states and among racial/ethnic same-sex couples’ parental rights, infertil- between women’s political participation groups, with Black women experiencing ity coverage, and sex education. Overall, and political leadership. Although the the poorest health outcomes. In almost the report found that reproductive rights number of women in the U.S. Congress is every state, women are more likely to are strongest in the Northeast and West. at an all-time high, women will not hold experience poor mental health, but less IWPR released the last two Status of an equal share of seats until 2117, if cur- likely to die from heart disease or breast Women in the States reports—Work & rent trends continue. cancer than a decade ago. Family and Political Participation—on The new Work & Family Composite The Violence & Safety report found May 20 at an event in Washington, DC Index found that half of all families with that nearly one in three women experi- (see page 4 for more about the event). children in the United States now have a ences physical violence perpetrated by an These reports found that most states fall breadwinner mother, but no state provides intimate partner at some point in her life- short on work and family policies and adequate child care supports. The report time, and nearly one in five women in the women’s political leadership, with no also found that women are nine times United States is raped at some time in her state receiving an A in either category. more likely than men to work part-time life. In addition, more teen girls experi- Women are more likely than men to for family care reasons. In the Spring of ence bullying than teen boys. The Repro- vote in almost every state, but most states 2016, IWPR release a report on the Status ductive Rights composite index analyzed scored poorly on the Women in Elected of Women in the U.S. South.

President’s Message continued from p. 2 There is almost no lever that you can in the South report, on women in 11 push that cuts the poverty rate by half, southern states plus the District of Co- Stay Connected! making equal pay a significant policy lumbia. It will feature more data on race priority for the nation, if we are serious and ethnic differences among women, @IWPResearch about increasing economic mobility, as well as income and other differences. decreasing inequality, and strengthening The SWS website (statusofwomendata. economic growth. org) also presents data disaggregated by If a set of pro-women and pro-family race and ethnicity, as well as by age and www.facebook.com/ public policies (especially equal pay and income level. Class, race, and gender iwpresearch paid family leave) is championed in this come together in the SWS and many election season, that will go a long way other IWPR projects, as well as on our toward building the public support neces- SWS website. We hope you will visit www.youtube.com/ sary to achieving overdue policy changes our website often as we continue to womenspolicyresearch in the United States. build upon this foundational project by Going forward, IWPR hopes to con- updating the data periodically. tinue its SWS work by hosting regional meetings as well as hosting meetings for http://storify.com/ the business community. Early in 2016, IWPResearch IWPR will roll out its Status of Women

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To mark the culmination of the Achieving Status of Women in the States: 2015 series, IWPR hosted a May 20, 2015 event “Achieving Gender Equality in our Lifetimes: A Bold Vision for Advancing Gender Equality the Status of Women.” The release event focused on two chapters of the report on in our women’s leadership & engagement, and work family issues, and featured expert panelists, speakers, and guests. Lifetimes: Speakers included Heidi Shierholz, A Bold Vision for Advancing the Status of Women Chief Economist for the U.S. Department

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of Labor, Barbara Gault, Vice President were Congresswoman Gwen Moore, Sue Vice-Provost for Faculty at Georgetown and Executive Director of IWPR, Randi Caroll from the Center for American University. Weingarten, President of the American Women and Politics, and Wendy Naugle, The event concluded with closing re- Federation of Teachers, Heidi Hartmann, Executive Editor of Glamour Magazine. marks by IWPR President Heidi Hart- President of IWPR, and Congresswoman The second panel covered issues around mann and a reception with remarks from Debbie Dingell from Michigan’s 12th work and family and was moderated by Congresswoman Debbie Dingle. Congressional District. Kavitha Cardoza from WAMU. Panelist The event also included two panels, the included IWPR Study Director Ariane first of which on political participation Hegewisch, Ai-jen Poo, Director of the and moderated by Avis Jones-DeWeever, National Domestic Workers Alliance, founder of the Exceptional Leadership Barbara Krumsiek, Former CEO of Cal- Institute for Women. On that panel vert Investments, and Adriana Kugler,

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Captions 1. IWPR Board members 2. Study Director and Project Lead, Cynthia Hess, Ph.D. 3. Event Registration 4. Study Director and report author, Ariane Hegewisch 5. Work & Family panel participants, Ai-jen Poo and Barbara Krumsiek 6. Former Mariam K. Chamberlain fellow (left) Youngmin Yi and event attendee 7. Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of 17 18 Teachers 8. IWPR Board Chair Holly Fechner 9. IWPR Senior Communica- tions Manager Jennifer Clark with Liz Rose, Economic Policy Institute 10. IWPR President Heidi Hartmann 11. Audience question and answer 12. Work & Family panel 13. IWPR Development Assistant Jourdin Batchelor and IT Specialist and Administrative Assistant Rosalyn Ram 14. (from left) IWPR President Heidi Hartmann, IWPR Board Member Martha Darling, Congresswoman Debbie Dingle, and IWPR Board Members Ellen Delany, Holly Fechner, and Ellen Karp 15. Political Participation Panelists 16. IWPR Vice President and Executive Director Barbara Gault. 17. Ai-jen Poo, Direc- tor of the National Domestic Workers Alliance and Work & Family panel speaker 18. Heidi Shierholz, Chief Economist, U.S. Department of Labor.

page 5 Employment & Earnings Salon, Vogue, Refinery29, Elle, and Vox & family issues in “These are The Worst A Wall Street Journal article, “Where (March 25). States for Working Moms” (May 20). Women May Wait More Than 100 Years Poverty & Opportunity The Atlantic cited IWPR data on elder

Media Highlights to Close the Wage Gap,” quoted IWPR Vice President and Executive MarketWatch cited IWPR research show- and dependent care (May 21). Director Barbara Gault on the need ing that men out earn women at the to take action to close the wage gap same levels of education and quoted Vice A review of the Status of Women series (March 12). President Barbara Gault (April 8). findings was published in another Wash- ington Post article, “The Best and Worst The Washington Post Wonkblog cited IWPR Study Director Cynthia Hess States for Women in America, in 11 Maps the IWPR projection on when the discussed findings from the Status of and Charts” (May 20). wage gap will close in “At this rate, Women Poverty & Opportunity report American women won’t see equal pay in a Washington Post article, “Closing Health & Well-Being, Reproductive until 2058 (March 16).” the Gender Wage Gap Could Pull Half Rights, and Violence & Safety of Working Single Moms Out of Poverty LGBT Weekly cited IWPR research on Newsweek quoted IWPR Study Direc- (April 8).” women’s experiences with violence (May 9). tor Ariane Hegewisch on occupa- tional segregation and discrimination The Daily Beast cited IWPR research The Washington Post GovBeat used IWPR (March 16). on the economic status of women, and research on reproductive rights in the quoted IWPR President Heidi Hartmann states to create a series of informational Fast Company cited gender wage gap in an article, “Women are Poorer Than maps in “Where Reproductive Right findings in “The Gender Wage Gap is Men in Every State (April 9).” Stand in the States, in 6 Maps (May 7).” Much More Complex Than We Thought” (March 17). The Nation cited IWPR research on The Atlantic discussed IWPR data on closing the gender wage gap nationwide reproductive rights in the state of South Joining the CBS This Morning hosts in a (April 14). Dakota in an article, “The Worst State for segment “It Will Take Decades to Close Reproductive Rights (May 12).” the Gender Wage Gap, study Shows.” CBS The Atlantic cited IWPR research on the News business analyst Jill Schlesinger de- economic status of women, and quoted The Washington Post cites IWPR research tailed findings from IWPR’s study on the Senior Research Associate Jessica Milli on health and well-being in “Six Alarm- gender wage gap by state (March 13). on younger women of color founding ing Health Trends Every Woman Needs businesses (April 17). to Know,” quoting Study Director Cyn- thia Hess (May 7). Work & Family Think Progress cites IWPR data on child Political Participation care access in the states in “The Best and The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette cited IWPR’s Worst States to Raise Kids” (May 20) data on political participation in the state of Pennsylvania (May 20). Fortune discussed IWPR data on child care access and the best and worst states MSNBC cited IWPR research on political The Daily Show ran a segment “The for working mothers (May 20). participation and recapped IWPR’s Status Future of Gender Wage Equality” focused of Women in the States event in “How on IWPR research (March 24). The seg- Refinery29 discusses IWPR’s ranking of State Policies Help or Hinder Women’s ment was later referenced in articles from best & worst states for women on work Equality (May 21).”

Partners ontinued from p. 1 Foundation of Southwest Pennsylvania also presented findings to their board of about the gender wage gap in the Fall uses the Status of Women in the States directors and donors and hosted briefings River Herald and an interview withWBZ report to inform their advocacy and for members of the media, policymakers, News Radio. grantmaking strategy. Their annual and advocates to increase investment in In Utah, the local YWCA issued a press GirlGov program is designed to provide women and girls’ health, education, and release that generated media coverage on local girls with the opportunity to learn, economic security in the region. local TV, the local NPR affiliate KUER first hand, about civics, government, IWPR hopes that its partners across the Utah, and in the Salt Lake Tribune. The philanthropy, community involvement, country will continue using the Status Permanent Commission on the Status of women’s history, and leadership. IWPR’s of Women in the States report and ac- Women in Connecticut has also used the data on women in political leadership in companying interactive website (statu- data to attract coverage from the Hartford the state was used to contextualize the sofwomendata.org) to inform their own Business Journal, WTNH TV, FoxCT. importance of the program in a segment advocacy, educate their communities, com, and CTnews.com. on WESA, Pittsburgh’s NPR affiliate. and advance the status of women in their In Pittsburgh, the Women and Girls The Women and Girls Foundation have states and the country overall.

page 6 IWPR General and Project Support

Major Funders IWPR General Support As well as the generous support from the Ford Foundation Mariam K. Chamberlain IWPR Board of Directors, individual Annie E. Casey Foundation Ford Foundation contributions, and participants of the Walmart Foundation Fannie & Stephen Kahn Charitable Combined Federal Campaign. W.K. Kellogg Foundation Foundation NoVo Foundation Google Foundation Mariam K. Chamberlain Fellowship James R. Dougherty, Jr. Foundation, Inc. Fund Additional Project Support Leonora Foundation Inc. Borrego Foundation African American Policy Forum New Directions Foundation Lenora Cole City of the District of Columbia, Pfizer, Inc. Margery Davies Department of Employment Services Salesforce.com Foundation Joan Combs Durso Domestic Violence Legal Empowerment Sunrise Foundation Janet Zollinger Giele and Appeals Project Virginia Hodgkinson IMPAQ International, LLC IWPR Information Network Elizabeth Higginbotham JP Morgan Chase Foundation Support Yvonne Jackson National Democratic Institute AFL-CIO Marjorie Lightman Oxfam America AFSCME Esmeralda Lyn Savan Group, LLC American Federation of Teachers Tanya Melich Social Dynamics, LLC American Psychological Association, Seymour Miller Women’s Funding Network Women’s Programs Office Janice Monk U.S. Department of Labor Women’s Arizona YWCA Metropolitan Phoenix Carol Mukhopadhyay Bureau Chambers Family Fund Barbara Newell U.S. Department of Labor Employment Covington & Burling LLP Rosalind Petchesky & Training Administration Dallas Women’s Foundation Cordelia Reimers U.S. Department of Justice, National Girl Scouts of Western Ohio Elaine Reuben Institute of Justice Harriett Buhai Center for Family Law Jean Shackelford Hawaii State Commission on the Status Michele Swers Status of Women in the States of Women Irene Tinker Support International Association of Fire Fighters Sheila Wellington Ford Foundation International Association of Machinists Jack Wells American Federation of Teachers and Aerospace Workers Connie Zimmerman Women’s Funding Network International Union of Painters and Community Foundation of Southern Allied Trades In Honor/Memorial Wisconsin Maryland Commission for Women Peter Bullen made a gift in memory of Covington & Burling LLP National Association of Letter Carriers Joyce Cornell Bullen. Fairfield County’s Community Foundation National Women’s Law Center Anne Draznin made a gift in memory of Montana Community Foundation New York Women’s Foundation Yaffa Claire Draznin. National Air Traffic Controllers OWL - The Voice of Women 40+ Sarah Gotbaum made a gift in memory Association Permanent Commission on the Status of Sue Whitman, a DC leader on behalf of National Organization for Women of Women Connecticut aging women. New York Women’s Foundation The Professional Staff Congress Carol Mukhopadhyay made a gift in OWL - The Voice of Women 40+ Public Policy Associates, Inc. memory of Rose Z. Chapnick. The Foundation for Enhancing United Automobile Workers International Susan Strauss made a gift in memory of Communities Union Justine Phillips. United Automobile Workers United Mine Workers of America International Union United Steelworkers of America United Mine Workers of America University of Louisville, Women’s & Become a Member United Steelworkers of America Gender Studies Department Women and Girls Foundation of University of Memphis, Center for Southwest Pennsylvania Research on Women Want to learn how to support Women’s Foundation of Colorado University of North Carolina at Charlotte, IWPR’s work? Join IWPR’s Women’s Fund for the Fox Valley Region Women + Girls Research Alliance Information Network! Women’s Funding Alliance University of Pennsylvania, Women’s Visit our webpage: Studies www.iwpr.org/about/membership-giving As well as the generous support from the Washington State University, Women’s IWPR Board of Directors and individual Resource Center or contact us contributions YWCA of Rochester and Monroe County Rachel Eichhorn Development Coordinator [email protected]

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