Illinois Politicians Show Support On Equal Pay Day

By Lisa White in News on Apr 8, 2014 9:55PM

Several local politicians showed their support earlier today to help bring awareness to Equal Pay Day. Equal Pay Day symbolizes how far into the new year a women must work to earn what her male counterpart would have made in a previous year, showcasing the wide income gap that still exists between men and women.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan perfectly summed up how most people feel about this issue when she said the following:

"Aren't we a little tired of the rallies for equal pay? Shouldn't we just have equal pay?"

DNAinfo Chicago reports Gov. Pat Quinn declared today Illinois Equal Pay Day, while using the issue to further spotlight his push for a higher minimum wage, as he pointed out that 70 percent of minimum wage workers are women.

Although we've seen progress over the years and women now make 77 cents for every dollar men make, the fact this is even still an issue is disheartening in modern society. Then again, a large amount of the high earning positions in upper management are still occupied by men, which can skew some of the estimations. Even so, this seems like an instances of common sense that is still sadly an issue.

Meanwhile Mayor Rahm Emanuel released the following statement today in regards to Equal Pay:

"Equal pay is not a women’s issue, it is a family issue, a community issue, and an issue for our entire city and country because when a person is underpaid because of their gender, we are all the poorer for it. That is why the first bill President Obama signed into law was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, demonstrating that an economy that is built to last puts fairness first. And today, I applaud President Obama for taking further action to combat discriminatory pay practices. Now, Congress needs to put our national laws in line with our values and finally pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, which will empower women with the information and resources they need to address unequal pay in the workplace."

If you suspect your wages are being impacted due to gender discrimination, The Shriver Report has a great interview with employment attorney Christopher Davis you can check out to get more information on how to remedy these situations.