19A: The Brookings Gender Equality Series

The United States celebrated the centenary of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, an enormous victory in the long march toward gender equality, amid a historic pandemic, recession, and movement for racial justice that all have consequential implications for women’s lives. The 19th amendment’s implementation was never perfect— the promise of representation was not equally realized across racial and ethnic lines, and still today minority communities suffer from voter suppression— but the events of 2020 helped expose other gaps in gender equality that exist today.

It is clear equality at the ballot box has not translated into equity in other aspects of society. Change is still necessary for the United States to become a more perfect and more equal nation.

In this series, Brookings scholars and other subject-area experts analyze how gender equality has evolved since the amendment’s passage and the forces that have kept the United States from reaching true equality. They examine gender parity through a local, national, and global lens and propose policy recommendations to put an end to gender-based discrimination.

The Essays

Women at the top of the world, still not at the center: A new network analysis discovery

By Tuugi Chuluun and Kevin L. Young

Why has COVID-19 been especially harmful for working women?

By Nicole Bateman and Martha Ross

Women are advancing in the workplace, but women of color still lag behind

By Adia Harvey Wingfield

The US role in advancing gender equality globally through girls’ education

By Christina Kwauk

Women’s importance in enacting, implementing, and defending the Affordable Care Act

By Nancy-Ann DeParle and Jeanne Lambrew

A global story: Women’s suffrage, forgotten history, and a way forward

By Julia Gillard

The fate of women’s rights in Afghanistan

By John R. Allen and Vanda Felbab-Brown

Podcast: Reflections on gender equality and the 19th Amendment at 100

By Stephanie Aaronson, Emily Cleffi-Tristani, Christina Kwauk, Robin J. Lewis, Amy Liu, Molly E. Reynolds, Isabel V. Sawhill, and Morgan Welch

Event: Gender equality 100 years after the 19th amendment

Monday, Aug 24, 2020
2:00 PM-4:00 PM EDT

Are women happier than men? Do gender rights make a difference?

By Carol Graham

Not Far Enough: Why the law is only the first benchmark to true equality

By Tina Tchen

The Perfect 36: Tennessee delivers suffrage for women

By Janann Sherman, Ph.D. and Paula F. Casey

To protect Black women and save America from itself, elect Black women

By Andre M. Perry

How does gender equality affect women in retirement?

By Grace Enda and William G. Gale

Podcast: Gender equality, unpaid work, and women’s suffrage

By Stephanie Aaronson, Molly Kinder, and Isabel V. Sawhill

100 years on, politics is where the U.S. lags most on gender equality

By Richard V. Reeves

The gender revolution is stalling—What would reinvigorate it?

By Paula England, Andrew Levine, and Emma Mishel

The President’s Advisors: An analysis of women on the president’s “A Team”

By Kathryn Dunn Tenpas

Leaving all to younger hands: Why the history of the women’s suffragist movement matters

By Susan Ware

The history of women’s work and wages and how it has created success for us all

By Janet Yellen

Women Warriors: The ongoing story of integrating and diversifying the American armed forces

By Lori Robinson and Michael E. O’Hanlon

Women’s work boosts middle-class incomes but creates a family time squeeze that needs to be eased

By Isabel V. Sawhill and Katherine Guyot

Alice Paul, leader of the National Woman’s Party, unfurls the ratification banner from Suffrage headquarters. August 18, 1920. (Library of Congress)

Thank You

This series is made possible thanks to editorial guidance from:

Isabel V. Sawhill
Senior fellow

Carol Graham
Leo Pasvolsky Senior fellow

Christina Kwauk
Fellow

Rashawn Ray
David M. Rubenstein fellow