Panelists at the IWPR briefing (Marisa Conners)
On Wednesday, Feb. 5, The Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) hosted an event titled “2025 Federal Policy Solutions to Advance Gender Equity,” where policymakers, experts and advocates gathered to strategize on the urgent need to safeguard and expand women’s rights. The panelists included President of the National Partnership for Women and Families Jocelyn Frye, Co-President and CEO of Guttmacher Institute Destiny Lopez, and Pronita Gupta, a Senior Fellow at Workshop. President and CEO of IWPR Dr. Jamila K. Taylor served as the moderator. This event was held in partnership with Congresswoman Jan Schawkowsky (D-I.L.).
In the face of unprecedented attacks on women’s progress, the event highlighted how critical it is for those in positions of power to work towards structural change that not only defends existing rights, but also pushes forward into new realms of equality and justice.
The speakers expressed their concerns about the current administration’s actions, including attacks on research, the firing of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) officials, pausing foreign aid, and threatening Medicare, Medicaid, and the availability of mifepristone. Lopez stated that over 130,000 women will be denied contraceptive care daily due to the withholding of foreign aid, which will lead to millions of unintended pregnancies and thousands of deaths worldwide.
A majority of the panel was dedicated to the intersection between economic justice and gender equity, with focuses on childcare, paid medical leave, health insurance, and women’s protections in the workplace. Frye aptly pointed out that opening jobs to women without providing them the infrastructure to take advantage of them is an “empty opportunity,” given that childcare responsibilities often fall to women.
Additionally, a 2022 estimate from the Boston Consulting Group found that paid and unpaid work in the care industry comprises $6 trillion, almost a quarter of the U.S. GDP. The care economy is backed by women of color workers, yet they are often underpaid. It is also important to recognize domestic labor as the unpaid side of care work, which is made invisible due to societal expectations that women and girls will perform it.
Economic policies that further women’s participation in the workforce are widely beneficial, as they will prevent families in states with unpaid leave from losing over $20 billion in wages each year. The national GDP could lose $290 billion in 2030 and beyond if the United States does not improve the care economy, which comprises services that support children, the elderly, the disabled, and more. Women’s economic participation has the potential to increase U.S. GDP growth by 4% over the next decade, but we need policies to facilitate it.
IWPR’s new federal policy agenda outlines four major policy areas for advancing gender equity, including caregiving and families, equitable work and wages, reproductive justice and health equity, and education and career advancement. It encompasses 14 targeted policy areas such as paid leave, reproductive healthcare across the lifespan, and college affordability. This federal policy agenda aligns with the idea that we must start crafting our vision for the future now: Frye referred to this as our “affirmative vision” for the future, and Lopez called these policies “generational work.”
Representative Sarah McBride (D-D.E.) entered the discussion to present her goal of passing paid federal leave. This is a policy that touches “every single person, every single family across every background and political persuasion” as Rep. McBride stated. McBride’s message was aspirational for the future to build policies that protect the country and its workforce.
On a similar note, the panelists closed out the briefing by sharing what brings them hope. Gupta spoke about the organizing she is seeing around the country to protect federal victories, Lopez highlighted the successes of the Latin American reproductive rights movement, La Marea Verde, and Frye shared that people do crazy things when they are desperate, assuring the audience that gender equity will win out eventually.
While the day’s discussion was largely driven by concerns over the erosion of women’s rights, it also served as a call to action for creating a future where gender equity is firmly rooted in policy. Frye reminded the audience that “women don’t live single-issue lives,” and as such, policies must address the full spectrum of challenges that women face.
