Illinois e-News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 21, 2022

Contact:

Paul Cicchini 217-785-1719

SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL) and its community partners are recognizing September 21st as Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, a day that acknowledges the pay disparity between Black women and white men.

Black women are paid 58 cents for every dollar paid to white men. That means if a Black woman and white man started work together on January 1st, 2021, it would take the Black woman working until September 21st, 2022 to earn what her white, male counterpart earned in 2021.

“Illinois is on the frontlines of passing laws to increase pay transparency. The Department, through enforcement of amendments to the Equal Pay Act, is shining a light on pay in the private sector. It’s a critical step in shrinking both the gender and racial wage gaps,” said Illinois Department of Labor Acting Director Jane Flanagan.

This year IDOL is also partnering with Women Employed, Arise Chicago, Man-Tra-Con Corp., Shriver Center on Poverty Law, and YWCA of the Quad Cities to raise awareness of pay equity rights with a particular focus on low-income women of color through a multi-faceted media and outreach campaign made possible by a Fostering Access, Rights and Equity (FARE) grant from the Women’s Bureau of the United States Department of Labor.

Read more about the FARE Grant partnership here.