Research Making the News

To Close Gender Gap, Fight Pay Secrecy

| Sarah Savat | February 16, 2021

Over the last decade, more than a dozen states plus the District of Columbia have enacted legislation banning pay secrecy policies—workplace rules that prohibit workers from discussing wages and salaries. The laws aim to eliminate a means by which employers can discriminate—intentionally or not—against women in the pay setting. A new policy brief paper from Shengwei Sun, Jake Rosenfeld, and Patrick Denice, examines the effectiveness of these laws. The authors find that despite increased state legislation preventing pay secrecy, informal pay secrecy has increased since 2010—the last time workers were surveyed on the subject—offsetting a slight decline in formal bans on discussing pay. Between 2017-18, nearly half of full-time workers reported they were either discouraged or formally prohibited from discussing wages and salaries.

Citing: On the Books, Off the Record: Examining the Effectiveness of Pay Secrecy Laws in the U.S. by Shengwei Sun, Jake Rosenfeld, and Patrick Denice at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (February 9, 2021)

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Study shows that remote learners are more stressed than in-person students

| Jazmine Otey | February 15, 2021

A 2021 study from NBC News and Challenge Success indicates that the pandemic has had more of an impact on remote students as opposed to those in the classroom. The study looked at more than 75,000 high school students from 86 high schools across the country before and during the pandemic. It found that students, especially women of color, have experienced high levels of stress and pressure due to grades, tests, overall workload, lack of sleep and more. In Fall 2020, 32% of students reported mental health as a major source of stress, 14% more than pre-pandemic. The study also found that students’ engagement with earning is especially low now, 41% have reported a decrease in their school efforts.

Citing: Kids Under Pressure: A Look at Student Well-Being and Engagement During the Pandemic by Challenge Success and NBC News (February 2021)

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Law enforcement diversity may improve policing, study shows

| Christine Fernando and Marion Renault | February 11, 2021

A new study published in the journal Science, suggests that diversity in law enforcement can indeed lead to improvements in how police treat people of color. The authors analyzed data on nearly 3 million Chicago Police Department patrol assignments. They found that compared to white officers, Black and Hispanic officers made far fewer stops and arrests — and used force less often — especially against Black civilians. They also found female officers used less force than their male counterparts. By comparing officers working in similar areas, researchers noticed a difference across demographics. Relative to white officers on the same assignments in the same neighborhoods, Black officers were less likely to stop, arrest, and use force against civilians. Over the course of 100 shifts, Black officers made, on average, about 16 fewer stops and two fewer arrests — a 20% to 30% reduction compared to white officers in comparable scenarios.

Citing: The role of officer race and gender in police-civilian interactions in Chicago by Bocar A. Ba, Dean Knox, Jonathan Mummulo, and Roman Rivera at Science Magazine (February 12, 2021)

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‘It’s Exhausting Being Resilient All the Time’ – Women of Color Feel Overworked and Helpless During the Pandemic

| February 10, 2021

Women of color have been hit the hardest not only due to the job types and industries crippled by the pandemic—including education, hospitality, childcare and retail—but also due to increased childcare demands at home. One third of Black moms and one fourth of Latinx moms report being unable to work from home during the pandemic according to a new study conducted by WerkLabs, the data and insights division of The Mom Project. Comparatively, only 1/10 of both white and Asian moms were unable to work from home during the pandemic. With many Black and Latinx moms not afforded the luxury of remote work during these trying times, that not only puts them at a greater potential risk to COVID-19 exposure, but also leaves their childcare responsibilities in doubt. White and Asian moms are 9% more likely to leave their employer in comparison to Black moms, and are 14% more likely to leave their employer compared to Latinx moms.

Citing: Moms of Color: Working & Being a Mom During the Pandemic by WerkLabs and The Mom Project (February 2021)

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Women in economics get interrupted, study shows

| Colleen Flaherty | February 9, 2021

This paper represents the first systematic analysis of the culture of economics seminars and their findings add to an emerging literature documenting ways in which women economists are treated differently than men, and suggest yet another potential explanation for their underrepresentation at senior levels within the economics profession. During 2019, researchers coded every interaction between a speaker and their audience in more than 450 seminar series and jobs market talks across 33 economics departments. Researchers considered gender differences in the frequency of questions and interruptions and the gender and seniority of those asking. Then they categorized those questions by type -- comment, clarification, criticism, suggestion, follow-up -- as well as tone: supportive, patronizing, disruptive, demeaning, hostile. Looking for patterns, the researchers found that women were treated significantly differently than men when presenting their work. Within seminar series at universities, for instance, women presenters were asked 3.6 additional questions than their male counterparts, on average, or 12 percent more. Women giving job talks about their research faced 6.2 more questions than men.

Citing: Gender and the Dynamics of Economics Seminars by Pascaline Dupas, Alicia Sasser Modestino, Muriel Nierderle, Justin Wolders, and the Seminar Dynamics Collective (February 2, 2021)

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Girls Have Much Lower Self-Esteem During Their Teen Years, According to New Study

| Alice Broster | January 31, 2021

A new study has found that girls have much lower self-esteem in their teenage years and this can be partially attributed to social media. While the research found that young people’s mental health tended to worsen as they went through their teenage years, the wellbeing of girls was more severely impacted. Over a two-year period, researchers looked at the wellbeing of an estimated 5,000 young people who were born around 2000. Researchers spoke to the young people about their overall wellness and mental health when they were 11, 14, and 17. They found that there was a distinct drop in girl’s self-esteem and sense of self between the ages of 11 and 14. At 11, 15% said they felt unhappy about their appearance. However, by the time they were 14, 29% said they weren’t happy.

Citing: Young people’s mental and emotional health: Trajectories and drivers in childhood and adolescence by Whitney Crenna-Jennings at the Education Policy Institute (January 2021)

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New Research Reports

IWPR Women’s Priorities and Economic Impact Survey

Institute for Women’s Policy Research | Jeff Hayes and C. Nicole Mason | February 24, 2021

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. Raising the minimum wage and taxes round out top five priorities. A great majority also support paid sick leave. The top priorities for women are highly influenced by their experience during the pandemic, the economic downturn, and their inability to make ends meet or find work.

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Building a Better Future for Women in New Orleans Post COVID-19: Opportunities for Women in Skilled Trade and Technical Jobs

Institute for Women’s Policy Research | Chandra Childers, Ariane Hegewisch, and Elyse Shaw | January 25, 2021

This brief draws on labor market data and on interviews with business owners, workforce development professionals, and others with expertise on the New Orleans workforce to highlight both the potential and the need for increasing women’s access to well-paying, middle-skill jobs in Construction, Manufacturing, and Transportation. It begins by showing why change is needed, how occupational and industry segregation are key factors in generating gender and racial wage gaps, and how industry is losing out because of the lack of workforce diversity. The brief then discusses the reasons behind women’s, particularly Black and Hispanic women’s, underrepresentation in these good jobs, and ends by highlighting policies that could improve women’s economic security by expanding access to male-dominated skilled trade and technical jobs that pay a living wage.

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Providing Care Changes Men by Brigid Schulte at New America (February 4, 2021)

New America | Brigid Schulte | February 4, 2021

This report seeks to better understand men who give care—who they are, what they do, and how they think. This was done by comparing the experiences of men who have ever provided care—whether to adults, children, or children with a medical, behavioral, or other condition or disability—with men who have not. In a nationally-representative survey of 2,966 American adults and five online focus group discussions collected before the outbreak of the COVID-19 global pandemic, the researchers found that men in general, regardless of their care experience, overwhelmingly say they do value care, with large majorities saying the unpaid care work of home is just as important as paid work. Large majorities of men also say that men should share care work equally with women. And yet we found that men’s belief in gender equality and the value of care did not necessarily translate into men taking on more care responsibilities. In fact, there is a substantial disconnect between what men say is ideal when it comes to sharing care work, and what they actually do.

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No Choice: The Implications of Unmet Child Care Needs for Unemployment Assistance & Paid Leave Access During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality | Cassidy Viser, Isabella Camacho-Craft, Indi Dutta-Gupta, and Kali Grant | February 3, 2021

For many working or unemployed parents of dependent children, widespread child care and in-person school closures made searching for work and securing formal employment virtually impossible. Many other families have opted to keep children home out of concerns that alternative care arrangements that may not meet new public health standards. As a result of the economic turmoil, child care providers have faced a steep drop in demand, and some providers receiving state subsidies report that their costs have increased even as enrollment levels plummeted, and that state supports have been insufficient. In the absence of adequate, safe, and accessible child care and in-person schooling for all who need it, strong unemployment assistance and paid leave programs can keep families afloat until they have viable options to both return to employment and access needed child care. At the same time, strong investments in the existing child care system can ensure that safe, affordable care will be available when parents can return to employment.

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It’s Time to Care: The Economic Case for Investing in a Care Infrastructure

Time’s Up Foundation | Lenore M. Palladino and Rakeen Mabud | February 2021

The COVID-19 crisis has taken an enormous toll on women in the United States and exposed the extent to which women’s labor — paid and unpaid — is the unacknowledged backbone of our collective economic health. In this analysis, researchers model the effect of a $77.5 billion annual public investment divided across the child care, residential care, and home health care sectors. Findings suggest that the private sector alone cannot establish a robust care infrastructure; such fundamental infrastructure requires sizable public engagement. Public investment in care would allow millions of family caregivers who have left the labor market, reduced their hours, or lost their jobs in 2020 to return to work, strengthening overall economic activity and ensuring that a generation of women’s labor market gains do not disappear.

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Racial Inequality and Minimum Wages in Frictional Labor Markets

Berkeley Institute for Research on Labor and Employment | Jesse Wursten and Michael Reich | February 2021

The researchers examine how the racial patchwork of federal and state minimum wage changes between 1990 and 2019 has affected racial wage gaps, with specific attention to effects on labor market frictions. They find that Black workers on average are less likely to live in high-wage states that have raised their wage floors. The effect of state minimum wages on the national racial wage gap is thus not self-evident. The authors also find that minimum wage changes since 1990 did reduce the 2019 racial wage gaps – by 12 percent among all workers and 60 percent among less-educated workers. The reductions were greater for Black women and Black prime age workers. Overall, earnings of all race, ethnic, and gender groups grew with the discussed minimum wage changes.

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