Institute for Women’s Policy Research: Working Toward Paid Family and Medical Leave in the United States

• In Event: 1523 - Practice Symposium Roundtables
  In Informal Discussion Roundtable: Table 6: Sociologists Working in Policy Settings

Abstract

How does research successfully enter the policy process, and how can sociologists play a key role in shaping policy debate? This symposium will explore these questions by examining a case study from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), an oft-cited think tank, which produced research that informed the passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act, and then by discussing strategies for researchers to become involved in the policy process, using the current movement for paid family and medical leave as a starting point.

In its inaugural publication, Unnecessary Losses: Costs to Americans of the Lack of Family and Medical Leave (1990), IWPR’s research showed that the cost to women not having access to family and medical leave was substantially higher than the cost to business of providing leave. This research informed the passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993, now a cornerstone of U.S. employment law and human resource policy. Since then, IWPR has continued to work with grassroots advocates, academic researchers, business leaders, policymakers, and other stakeholders at the national, state, and local areas seeking to provide paid family and medical leave by shifting the terms of the policy debate from the costs to businesses of providing family and medical leave to the costs to families and the overall economy of not providing leave. As part of the case study, we will discuss both the methodological and political challenges of conducting policy research at the state and federal level.

We will then discuss how experienced researchers can become more involved in policy efforts in their communities or broader settings, including through strategic communications, as well as how newer sociologists at the Bachelors, Masters, or Doctoral level might get more insight into career tracks in policy research.

Authors

• Jeffrey A. Hayes, Institute for Women's Policy Research

• Heidi I. Hartmann, Institute for Women's Policy Research

• Roberta M. Spalter-Roth, American Sociological Association & George Mason University Center for Social Science Research

• Jennifer Clark, Institute for Women's Policy Research