New Study Shows Where Government Workers Live In Illinois

By aaroncynic in News on Aug 13, 2013 7:20PM

While some may think clout-heavy areas in Illinois might also have a high amount of government employees living in the area, new data suggests otherwise. Crain’s Chicago reports a new study shows downstate areas with universities and prisons tend to have the highest concentration of government employees, followed by Chicago's South Side and the south suburbs.

The study, conducted by Rob Paral, a senior fellow at the Immigration Policy Center, found that four out of 10 districts with the highest amount of employees are represented by members of the GOP. Two out of 10 districts with Republican senators also have a high concentration of government employees. Overall, 12.9 percent of Illinois’ labor force is populated by government workers. Other statistics show 14 percent of House Speaker Michael Madigan’s district are government workers, while Senate President John Cullerton’s district is just a few notches over 7 percent.

Crain's Greg Hinz says this is another instance of all politics being local while asking some pressing questions..

(T)he data may suggest an answer to the question of why downstate lawmakers who are conservative on everything else balk at pension reform: Their constituents don't like it. But Mr. Cullerton and the liberals will have to speak for themselves, since they're paying the bill for government but in some ways not enjoying the same benefits as others.

Another question: What is the impact in black neighborhoods that already are behind the economic curve in some ways when one of the more stable sources of good jobs — government — pulls back.