Employers Disappoint Women Workers – IWPR

New IWPR Survey Shows Wide Gaps Between What Working Women Want from Employers and What Employers Offer in Terms of Wages, Leave, Workplace Flexibility

A new survey from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research finds that working women want workplace flexibility, paid leave, and higher pay top the list of wants for women as they chart a path back to the workforce. Businesses—small and large—will be key drivers and determine when and how women re-enter the workforce.

There is a wide gap between what women say they want from employers and the benefits employers provide. The survey found that more than 75 percent of women rate paid leave, health insurance, or job security as “very important” or “important” when considering future jobs, but at least 1 in three women workers say they currently lack one or more of these critical benefits.

• Nearly 90 percent of women rate a “living wage” as “very important” or “important” in their employment decisions.
• The same was true of health insurance (86 percent), retirement benefits (85 percent), job security (81 percent), paid vacation (79 percent), paid sick leave (77 percent), and paid family leave (77 percent).
• Over six in ten women rated flexibility as “very important” or “important” as they consider future jobs.
• Yet, paid sick and family leave remains an elusive benefit for many, with over one-third of women (38 percent) employed full-time reporting they do not have paid sick leave and 65 percent reporting they do not have paid family leave.

The Pandemic Effect: Women Want Good Pay, Health Coverage, and Better Benefits as They Re-Enter Workforce