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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Approximately 40 million people, or 12.3 percent
3of the U.S. population, were living in poverty as of 2017; 2016
4Census figures show 5.8 percent of the U.S. population lives in
5deep poverty with an income 50 percent below the federal
6poverty line; and
 
7    WHEREAS, In 2017, 21.1 percent of African American
8households and 18.3 percent of Hispanic American households
9were living in poverty; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Women account for nearly two-thirds of all minimum
11wage workers in the U.S.; one in eight American women,
12approximately 16 million, live in poverty or are on the brink
13of it, and American women are 35 percent more likely to be poor
14than American men; and
 
15    WHEREAS, The 2018 Census Bureau found that 58 percent of
16children in poverty are from single mother households with 35
17percent of single mothers falling below the level of poverty;
18any unplanned expense, health emergency, or reduction in work
19hours or pay can push many female led households over the
20brink; and
 
21    WHEREAS, According to a study by the Institute for Women's

 

 

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1Policy Research, white women made only 81.1 cents on the dollar
2and African American women only make 65.3 cents on the dollar
3when compared to men doing the same work in 2018; and
 
4    WHEREAS, The National Women's Law Center found that African
5American women work nearly 20 months for the amount of pay
6white men make during the calendar year; and
 
7    WHEREAS, A woman's percentage of pay will drop from 82
8percent to 69 percent of their male counterparts' earnings over
9the course of ten years after having graduated college; and
 
10    WHEREAS, A woman with a master's degree and working a
11full-time job earns 75 cents on every dollar earned by a man
12with a master's degree and working a full-time job; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Almost 60 percent of working women would earn more
14if there was pay equity, and nearly 65.9 percent of working
15single mothers would receive a pay increase; and
 
16    WHEREAS, A 2017 study by the Institute for Women's Policy
17Research found that providing equal pay to women with similar
18education and hours of work as their male counterparts would
19cut poverty among working women by half, and, remarkably, this
20is true whether women are married, single mothers, or single
21women living on their own; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, The same study found that gender pay equality for
2women would generate $512.6 billion in additional income for
3the U.S. economy, which is comparable to 2.8 percent of the
4gross domestic product from 2016; and
 
5    WHEREAS, The American Association of University Women
6found that half of all states pay women less than 80 percent of
7what their male counterparts make; therefore, be it
 
8    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
9HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
10we urge the United States Congress to take additional steps
11towards reducing gender pay inequality for all Americans
12because when men and women are paid equally for equal work the
13U.S. economy is improved, and the poverty rate for working
14women is cut significantly; and be it further
 
15    RESOLVED, That we urge Congress to reintroduce and pass
16legislation that will promote gender pay equality, thus helping
17to increase economic self-sufficiency among women; and be it
18further
 
19    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
20presented to the President of the United States, the Vice
21President of the United States, all members of the United

 

 

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1States House of Representatives the United States Senate, and
2all members of the Illinois General Assembly.