Is Illinois winning the fight for fair pay?

Illinois has made progress toward gender pay equity, but significant disparities remain, particularly for Black and Hispanic workers in low-wage sectors, a new report found.

The University of Illinois’ Project for Middle Class Renewal released the report. It analyzed data from more than 3.2 million jobtitle records submitted by nearly 4,000 private businesses to the Illinois Department of Labor through its Equal Pay Registration Certificate program between 2021 and 2023, according to a community announcement.

Women earn about 91-93 cents for every dollar earned by men in comparable roles, with the smallest gaps appearing in professional and managerial positions. Black and Hispanic workers earn approximately 90-94 cents for every dollar earned by white workers after controlling for job, firm and region.

Gender gaps have narrowed modestly in mid- and high-wage occupations but have widened for women in lower-wage roles. Cook County shows smaller gender gaps, while disparities are greater in downstate regions and in craft and service occupations.

The analysis, conducted by Dr. Tingting Zhang and Dr. Robert Bruno at the University of Illinois’ School of Labor and Employment Relations, found that while gaps remain, Illinois is making meaningful progress. This reflects the impact of increased employer accountability, data transparency and compliance efforts under the Equal Pay Act of 2003. The state is well-positioned to further narrow the gender wage gap and solidify its leadership in pay equity reporting.

"By continuing to refine this reporting system, Illinois can remain a national leader in pay transparency," Illinois Department of Labor Director Jane Flanagan said. "The Department will continue to use these data to guide enforcement and help employers build fairer, more equitable workplaces."

The report recommends several steps to strengthen Illinois’ pay equity system, including improving data quality through standardized job titles and validation tools, enhancing transparency with public dashboards and employer self-audit resources, increasing interagency coordination to reduce reporting burdens, implementing a "flagging" system to identify employers with significant wage gaps for review and enforcement and providing HR and business leaders with best practice tools for ensuring pay equity.

"The Illinois pay data reporting requirements provide an impactful opportunity to evaluate policy effects and support informed decisions about addressing pay equity," Tingting Zhang, an assistant professor of labor and employment relations, said.

"Ensuring pay equity does more than protect justice in the workplace," said Dr. Robert Bruno, Director of the Project for Middle Class Renewal. "Paying workers fairly regardless of race or gender contributes to a lifetime of higher earnings," Robert Bruno, director of the Project for Middle Class Renewal, said.

The Illinois Equal Pay Act, first enacted in 2003 and amended in 2021, requires private-sector employers with 100 or more Illinois-based employees to obtain an Equal Pay Registration Certificate by submitting demographic and wage data to the Department of Labor. The goal is to ensure equitable pay practices and strengthen accountability among large employers.

This story was created by reporter Nida Tazeen, NTazeen@usatodayco.com , with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct.​