OFFICE OF THE MAYOR CITY OF CHICAGO
LORI E. LIGHTFOOT
MAYOR
EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 2023-1
WHEREAS, The discrepancy in the number of jobs held by men versus women and the pay difference between men and women who do the same work is well documented; and
WHEREAS, Race and ethnicity result in exacerbated employment and pay discrepancies for women; and
WHEREAS, Of the 22 million jobs lost nationally between February and April of 2020 during the COV1D-19 pandemic, approximately 54 percent were held by women; and
WHEREAS, The number of women out of the labor force in the Chicagoland area grew by a 9 percent year-over-year increase compared to 4 percent year-over-year increase for men from 2019 to 2020; and
WHEREAS, Currently, based on 2021 earnings data from the U.S. Census Bureau,
Black women are paid 64 cents for every dollar that a White man is paid for the same work; and
WHEREAS, Latinas are paid 54 cents for every dollar a White man is paid; and
WHEREAS, Women currently make up approximately 29 percent of the City of Chicago government workforce, down from a high of 31.5 percent earlier in the last decade; and
WHEREAS, The City of Chicago continues to center equity in its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic; and
WHEREAS, Chicago will neither fully recover from the pandemic, nor thrive economically as the city should, without addressing the underlying inequities in our labor market; and
WHEREAS, We must raise the floor to ensure women, especially women of color, have access to quality jobs that support them and that allow them to support their families; and
WHEREAS, It is appropriate to utilize the executive authority vested in my office to address the issue of gender-based and racial wage gaps and consequent issues as soon as possible; and
WHEREAS, An important tool for knowing whether the employment and pay differences are shrinking is by auditing and reporting on who is in the workforce; and
WHEREAS, Efforts towards closing the gender and racial wage gap should be avai...
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