According to our census, our most common heads of households in Indiana House District 3 are our single mothers. If you consider that 51% of our families are only averaging 74 cents to the dollar, you can see how this wage gap affects funding for everything from our roads, to our schools, to our parks. (That 51% of our population is not even including our working single childless women, or our married mothers!)
Now think about how much money the majority of IN HD3 families can spend to support our local businesses. What does that 26 cent gap mean for all of us?
(League of Women Voters Members discussing issues that effect NWI and all Hoosiers with their senators. )
The wage gap is not a partisan issue. It is not just a problem for women, nor House District 3, it effects all Hoosiers.
On Wednesday, January 17, 2018 HB 1390 aka the Equal Pay Bill was reintroduced in Indianapolis. Why is House Bill 1390 different than the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, and Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990?
In a Right to Work State like Indiana, employers can choose to fire workers at will. This can include if an employee discloses his salary to a female coworker. House Bill 1390 provides protection for coworkers to discuss their salaries without fear of losing their jobs, which would lead to more transparency of discrepancies in the Indiana workforce, thus allowing all Hoosier heads of households to better advocate for wage increases with their employers.
(League of Women Voters of the Calumet Area supporting Rep. Linda Lawson’s proposal, House Bill 1390.)
According to the Indiana Institute for Working Families, “In 2016 in Indiana, the median earnings of full time male workers were $12,717 higher than the median earnings of full time female workers. This is a 26 percent wage gap. Even as the nation’s wage gap narrowed between 2015 and 2016, Indiana’s wage gap widened 2 percentage points. The Hoosier gender wage gap is now the 6th highest in the nation, not far behind Louisiana and Utah, which, at 30 percent, are tied for the highest in the nation. Within Indiana, there is considerable variation from county to county, with some counties in Indiana showing nearly a 40 percent gap, while others have gaps in the teens.”
If elected, Jessica Renslow will fight to:
- Continue to advocate for equal pay for all working families.
- Promote business investment in INHD3 that is complementary to creating life-long communities.
- Increase jobs and economic development by monitoring/ maintaining compliance of our local and targeted hiring programs.
- Bring back the outreach and pride of the labor movement into our schools by facilitating mentorship opportunities to help bridge the disconnect between our educational institutions and our regional employers.
- Advocate for entrepreneurial education and financial literacy across INHD3 via community partnerships with local financial institutions/ business incubators.
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