November 3, 2004

IWPR’s Research News Reporter is distributed monthly to highlight inventive, informative, innovative, and sometimes controversial research relating to women and their families. Each selection includes a short description of the research and either a link to the report itself or a citation. We sometimes include short pieces in their entirety.

In this edition:

1.      The Children Left Behind: Deeper Poverty, Fewer Supports

2.      Women & the Economy: Recent Trends in Job Loss, Labor Force Participation, and Wages Briefing Paper

3.     The Status of Early Care and Education in the States

4.      Working Women Speak Out

5.      Self Sufficiency and Safety: The Case for Onsite Domestic Violence Services at Employment Service Agencies

6.      Women’s Leadership Profiles

7.      Working Hard, Falling Short: America ’s Working Families and the Pursuit of Economic Security

8.      Health Care and the 2004 Elections: Women’s Health Policy

1. The Children Left Behind: Deeper Poverty, Fewer Supports
Deanna M. Lyter, Melissa Sills, Gi-Taik Oh, and Avis Jones-DeWeever
Institute for Women’s Policy Research
October 2004

This study examines the situations of low-income children in single parent families both before and after welfare reform. The report’s key findings are: the youngest and poorest children are at greatest risk of unmet need; cash assistance reached fewer children in poverty; poverty deepened for the poorest children; health insurance coverage declined for extremely poor children, and particularly among children of color; and fewer poor children receive food stamps. The authors include recommendations such as: states reaching out to families no longer receiving welfare; policymakers increasing income disregards for those transitioning away from welfare; and Congress and the states expanding access to education and training.

http://www.iwpr.org/pdf/D457.pdf

2. Women & the Economy: Recent Trends in Job Loss, Labor Force Participation, and Wages
Heidi Hartmann, Vicky Lovell, and Misha Werschkul
Institute for Women’s Policy Research
October 2004

This Briefing Paper presents new findings on women’s economic status following the 2001 recession and reviews some key trends in women’s employment. Although the number of women employed has returned to pre-recession levels, there has been slow job growth in some industries. At the same time, the long-term increase in women’s labor force participation has stalled, and the gender wage gap has increased.

http://www.iwpr.org/pdf/B245.pdf

See also:

The Gender Wage Ratio: Women’s and Men’s Earnings
Vicky Lovell
http://www.iwpr.org/pdf/C350updated.pdf  

State-by-State Rankings on Women’s Economic Status: Data on the Wage Gap and Women’s Poverty
Amy Caiazza, Ph.D., April Shaw, and Misha Werschkul
http://www.iwpr.org/pdf/C358.pdf

3. The Status of Early Care and Education in the States
Erica Williams and Anne W. Mitchell
Institute for Women’s Policy Research
October 2004

This report outlines the need for quality early care and education for working parents and children, discusses the benefits of such care for children, and provides an overview of the programs that currently exist. The report presents national and state-by-state data on the availability, quality, and cost of early care and education programs, and recommends steps for states and the federal government to expand and improve these programs, putting the United States on a path toward a system of high-quality, voluntary, universal early care and education. Recommendations include: improving the access to quality services, improving quality of care, improving staff compensation and working conditions, promoting system integration, and improving access to information.

http://www.iwpr.org/pdf/R264.pdf

See also:

The Status of Early Care and Education in New Mexico
Erica Williams and Anne W. Mitchell
http://www.iwpr.org/pdf/R263.pdf

The Status of Early Care and Education in Wisconsin
Jeannine Love, Erica Williams, and Anne W. Mitchell
http://www.iwpr.org/pdf/R262.pdf

4. Working Women Speak Out
Institute for Women’s Policy Research and Business and Professional Women USA
Fall 2004

This survey, designed by Business and Professional Women USA, asked 7,000 American working women about their concerns in the workplace, security, and quality of life. The Institute for Women’s Policy Research then analyzed the survey responses and prepared a report for the Business and Professional Women’s Foundation detailing the most important findings. The report working women’s attitudes on ten different topics, including: staying healthy, flexibility at work, resources for getting ahead at work, views of the women’s movement, securing quality of life, more intense concerns in our communities of color, the difference being a parent makes, where political affiliation matters, younger women’s concerns, and concerns of small business owners. In addition to reflecting women’s evaluation of the opportunities and obstacles they face, this report also sheds light on the ways families, employers, and communities can help women feel safer today and plan for a secure tomorrow, while achieving their personal and career goals.

http://www.bpwusa.org/pdf/wwsosurveybooklet.pdf

5. Self-Sufficiency and Safety: The Case for Onsite Domestic Violence Services at Employment Service Agencies
Lise McKean
Center for Impact Research
October 2004

This report informs public policy debates about the need for and benefits of offering domestic violence education and services at employment services agencies. It highlights the challenges, service needs, and outcomes of low-income domestic violence survivors as they struggle to keep themselves and their children safe, become and remain employed, and attain self-sufficiency. It also summarizes the findings of the Kraft Domestic Violence Services Project and includes best practice recommendations for integrating domestic violence services into programs and activities at employment services agencies. The author discusses planning, establishing, and maintaining interagency collaborations; training of case managers; screening and referrals; and ongoing delivery of domestic violence services within the employment services setting.

http://www.impactresearch.org/documents/DVpolicyreport.pdf

6. 2004 Women’s Leadership Profiles
Center for Women in Government and Civil Society, Albany University , New York
October 20, 2004

The 2004 Women’s Leadership Profiles provides specific information on women’s participation as top policy leaders in each state’s executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government. There is also a profile of women’s policy leadership in the United States as a whole. The report uses data gathered between 1998 and 2004 from top advisors with policy influence in governors’ offices; heads of departments, agencies, offices, boards, commissions, and authorities appointed by current governors; statewide elected officials and state legislators; highest court judges; and appointed policymakers in state government. The study found that, in one-third of the states, the percentage of women in top policy positions in state governments fell or remained level between 1998 and 2004. The study reports that, as of October 2004, women were governors in nine states, lieutenant governors in 16 states, and chief justices in 17 states, and women held top leadership posts in only two Senates and four Houses of state legislatures.

http://www.cwig.albany.edu/2004leadershipprofile.pdf

7. Working Hard, Falling Short: America ’s Working Families and the Pursuit of Economic Security
Tom Waldron, Brandon Roberts, and Andrew Reamer
The Working Poor Families Project, The Annie E. Casey Foundation
October 2004

This report is a product of the Working Poor Families Project, a national initiative involving 15 state nonprofit organizations that are committed to helping low-income adults succeed in the labor market. Each state-level organization prepares a report similar to this national one, assessing conditions of working families and state government efforts to assist them.  This report summarizes the findings of the Working Poor Families Project and gives recommendations for improving the plight of low-income workers. Some of the findings are: millions of working families are struggling to make ends meet; the education and workforce development systems inadequately prepare many workers for today’s economy; too many jobs offer low wages and insufficient benefits; conditions for low-income working families vary enormously by state; and responses to these issues are inadequate. The authors recommend investment in education and training for working families; improvement in income, benefits and supports for low-income working families and increasing the number of good jobs; assessing the conditions of America ’s working families and government efforts on their behalf; and focusing the nation’s attention on low-income working families.

http://www.aecf.org/initiatives/jobsinitiative/workingpoor/working_hard_new.pdf

8. Health Care and the 2004 Elections: Women’s Health Policy
The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation
October 2004

This report examines major health policy issues of importance to women, reviewing studies on issues including reproductive health, improving insurance coverage and affordability of care, balancing work and family health care needs, long-term care, and clinical research. The report also provides a tool for assessing the candidates’ positions on these important issues. It emphasizes that women’s health is not defined by any single issue, that women have much at stake in a host of larger health care debates, and that the importance they place on health care as a voting issue reflects the influence of larger health policy matters on their own and their families’ health.

http://www.kff.org/womenshealth/7184.cfm

This edition of IWPR’s Research News Reporter was prepared by Elizabeth Circo & Misha Werschkul.