HR0697 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0697 LRB101 16774 ECR 66167 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Approximately 40 million people, or 12.3 percent of the U.S. population, were living in poverty as of 2017; 2016 Census figures show 5.8 percent of the U.S. population lives in deep poverty with an income 50 percent below the federal poverty line; and

WHEREAS, In 2017, 21.1 percent of African American households and 18.3 percent of Hispanic American households were living in poverty; and

WHEREAS, Women account for nearly two-thirds of all minimum wage workers in the U.S.; one in eight American women, approximately 16 million, live in poverty or are on the brink of it, and American women are 35 percent more likely to be poor than American men; and

WHEREAS, The 2018 Census Bureau found that 58 percent of children in poverty are from single mother households with 35 percent of single mothers falling below the level of poverty; any unplanned expense, health emergency, or reduction in work hours or pay can push many female led households over the brink; and

WHEREAS, According to a study by the Institute for Women's Policy Research, white women made only 81.1 cents on the dollar and African American women only make 65.3 cents on the dollar when compared to men doing the same work in 2018; and

WHEREAS, The National Women's Law Center found that African American women work nearly 20 months for the amount of pay white men make during the calendar year; and

WHEREAS, A woman's percentage of pay will drop from 82 percent to 69 percent of their male counterparts' earnings over the course of ten years after having graduated college; and

WHEREAS, A woman with a master's degree and working a full-time job earns 75 cents on every dollar earned by a man with a master's degree and working a full-time job; and

WHEREAS, Almost 60 percent of working women would earn more if there was pay equity, and nearly 65.9 percent of working single mothers would receive a pay increase; and

WHEREAS, A 2017 study by the Institute for Women's Policy Research found that providing equal pay to women with similar education and hours of work as their male counterparts would cut poverty among working women by half, and, remarkably, this is true whether women are married, single mothers, or single women living on their own; and

WHEREAS, The same study found that gender pay equality for women would generate $512.6 billion in additional income for the U.S. economy, which is comparable to 2.8 percent of the gross domestic product from 2016; and

WHEREAS, The American Association of University Women found that half of all states pay women less than 80 percent of what their male counterparts make; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the United States Congress to take additional steps towards reducing gender pay inequality for all Americans because when men and women are paid equally for equal work the U.S. economy is improved, and the poverty rate for working women is cut significantly; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge Congress to reintroduce and pass legislation that will promote gender pay equality, thus helping to increase economic self-sufficiency among women; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the President of the United States, the Vice President of the United States, all members of the United States House of Representatives the United States Senate, and all members of the Illinois General Assembly.