Institute for Women's Policy Research

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The Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) is a nonprofit research group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1987 by Heidi Hartmann, IWPR aims to improve gender equality by studying how laws and policies affect women and families and by sharing findings to inform public discussion.

IWPR uses real data from federal and state sources to study gaps in education, work, poverty, health, and other issues. It publishes reports, fact sheets, and briefing papers that center on women’s lives and how policy shapes social mobility, income, and well-being. It was the first think tank dedicated to quantitative research on women’s policy. Since 1996, it has released The Status of Women in the States every two years and has added new indicators over time to measure work and family equality, such as paid leave, childcare, and parents’ participation in the labor force. It also maintains a political participation index that looks at women’s representation in office, voter registration, turnout, and related institutional resources.

Key findings from IWPR’s work include the persistent pay gap between women and men across many fields, and the way pay secrecy can worsen this gap. Research since 2016 has shown that women are more likely to experience poverty and to face deeper poverty than men. A 2019 study with the March of Dimes Center found that about 30% of women leave their jobs in the year after childbirth or adoption, and 20% do not return within ten years; paid family leave can reduce this attrition by about 20%.

IWPR has also explored gender equity in invention and patents, finding that only 7.7% of patents issued between 1977 and 2010 list a woman as the primary inventor. In 2018, IWPR partnered with Generation Hope, Chegg.org, and the Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice to survey student parents; about 20% felt unwelcome on campus, with higher rates among Black and Hispanic/Latina students.

The organization is led by President C. Nicole Mason and Vice President Cynthia Hess. It is headquartered at The George Washington University in the United States. In 2021, IWPR reported revenue of about $4.24 million and expenses of about $4.17 million. Website: iwpr.org.