Yingling Calls Attention to Gender Wage Gap on Equal Pay Day

ROUND LAKE BEACH, Ill. – State Rep. Sam Yingling, D-Grayslake, is calling attention to the gender wage gap on Pay Equity Day, which represents how far into the current year a woman must work on average to earn as much as a man earned the previous year. In 2018, Pay Equity Day is recognized on April 4.

“Income inequality is an issue that affects hard-working women across our state and country,” Yingling said. “As a society we not only need to recognize this sad reality, we need a dialog to help address and correct this social injustice. As a lawmaker, I have a responsibility to enact policies that protect everyone under the law and ensure equality.”

A report released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found that women working full-time earned an average of $657 per week, while their male counterparts earned an average of $819 per week. Yingling recently co-sponsored and voted to pass House Bill 4163 to prohibit employers from asking prospective employees about their previous salary history.

“Basing a prospective employee’s salary on their previous wages in a different job rather than the work they will do only further perpetuates and institutionalized the gender wage gap,” Yingling added. “It’s on all of us to ensure that women and men are treated equally in the workplace and that their paychecks reflect that.”

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