The COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented economic and policy challenges to the United States and other countries. Navigating out of the pandemic slowdown is another novel experience, which makes it more difficult to answer the question addressed each year in the "State of Working Pennsylvania": How is the Pennsylvania economy…

The United States and Pennsylvania economies are at a pivot point: Will we build forward better or will we build back the same? Will we make things even worse? This report revisits the policy choices that lie ahead. Most of this annual checkup on the Pennsylvania economy, the 26th "State of Working Pennsylvania," presents labor market…

As COVID-19 rapidly changes the economic landscape throughout the country, higher education institutions (HEIs) are facing new, constantly evolving challenges. To address these challenges, federal and state governments are quickly drafting laws and regulations that are impacting colleges and universities, and their employees. This article briefly…

This brief summarizes early educators' experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, including changes in employment and wages, supports they received, and challenges they faced. The findings come from a survey of early educators working in licensed child care facilities in the District of Columbia in early 2021. The survey is part of the larger DC…

This completely updated edition of "The Almanac of American Education" helps users understand and compare the quality of education at the national, state, and county levels. Compiled from official U.S. government sources, this book contains historical and current data, insightful analysis, and useful graphs that provide compelling…

"The Status of Women in North Carolina: Poverty and Opportunity" is the final publication in a four-part series of publications on women's status in North Carolina. The report builds on the Institute for Women's Policy Research's "Status of Women in the States" initiative, which has sought to measure women's economic, social,…

When the coronavirus pandemic arrived, the United States was already deeply unequal. Before the pandemic, 140 million Americans were poor or near poor, living just one emergency above the poverty line. Inequality in the United States did not happen suddenly and cannot be explained as the consequence of individual failures; rather, decades of…

Washington employment projections continue to show strong demand for workers with postsecondary education. Nearly 70 percent of all projected job openings require at least some education beyond high school, with two-thirds requiring midlevel education or higher. As businesses, industries, and workplaces become increasingly complex, employers need…

The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "College Readiness and Access." Contents include: (1) Highlights of IDRA's 35th…

This is an update to the report "Deeper in Debt: Women and Student Loans." Americans today carry $1.54 trillion in student loan debt. That number has more than doubled over the last decade--increasing at nearly six times the rate of inflation. Women are particularly burdened, holding nearly two-thirds of all outstanding loans--around…