STATE OF THE STATE
The women's commission
report tells a familiar story
by Jennifer Davis
First, the assignment: Take five
months to investigate abuses against
women — something that hasn't been
done seriously for about a decade —
and then tell us how to fix things. OK,
that's a hefty but not impossible job for
Women's Commission Chair Paula
Wolff and her 20 commissioners. But
then comes the kicker. Wolff, president
of Governors State University and a
longtime political player in Illinois, puts
it as nicely as she can.
"It was suggested that we include
those issues about which there is little
or no controversy and which have no
'political baggage' created by prior
policy struggles or confrontations."
The commissioners didn't listen.
Their preliminary report, due out any
day now, is full of "longstanding issues,
some seemingly intractable, some
highly controversial, some laden with
political baggage."
But what's most striking, says Wolff,
is that it shows women are still facing
the same barriers they've been facing
for years. So, despite much progress,
women still don't make as much money
as men; they don't have the child, elder
and health care they need; and they
don't even have basic protection from
physical violence.
The commission has boiled the problems down to these three key areas. A
final report is due in December. After
that, the commission, which Gov. Jim
Edgar created through executive order,
Despite much progress,
women in Illinois are still
facing the same barriers.
Pay equity/or one.
is kaput. Thus, there's a lot of pressure
for this report to spur great change.
And some say there's now interest to do
just that.
"I was very heartened to see many
legislators, both men and women, at
their meeting," says former Republican
state Rep. Susan Catania, who chaired
the former legislative women's
commission from 1974 to 1983. It was
abolished in the late '80s after a scandal
involving other commissions. "I used to
be very frustrated because I knew our
reports weren't read. We used to put
cartoons every couple pages to try and
entice people to read it. This is a
completely different attitude. This
report will be read."
Indeed, Debbie Walsh at the Center
for the American Woman and Politics
says men know that women vote more
now. It's having an effect.
Here's a very small sample of what
legislators will read in this report:
• "Women still have lower income
and earnings than men, have higher
rates of poverty and spend more time
away from the workplace to care for
others," according to a 1997 Illinois
Department on Aging report. The
median annual income for full-time
working women age 18 to 64 is $19,840
compared to $30,000 for men.
• The risk of poverty for women age
65 and older is 70 percent greater than
it is for men. Why? No pensions.
• In Illinois and nationally, nearly
half of all single mothers live below
the poverty level. Illinois' 1990 census
figures show 279,172 single-mother
households with an average annual
income of $16,759.
• Illinois has the seventh largest
female prison population nationwide.
Last June, 2,416 women were in jail —
triple the number from a decade before.
Studies show their crimes aren't more
violent, but sentencing is harsher. As a
result, about 25,000 children each year
are without their primary caretaker.
• Forty percent of the Illinois women
jailed report being either physically or
sexually abused as minors.
• Other countries are ahead of us in
providing universal family supports like
health care, child care, child allowances,
paid medical leave and job security.
The report goes much further, delving
into issues such as gender equality in
education and jobs. In all, the commission's facts are striking, but certainly
not surprising, especially to the women
who live these lives. Indeed, that's the
next step: finding these women and
learning from their solutions. Another
answer is to bring these issues to everyone's attention. The commission
suggests a public relations campaign.
Something like, "Invest in Family,
Invest in the Future." But this is just
one step. State government must also be
a model employer. Further, the General
Assembly could make this commission
permanent through legislation. The
House tried to do that this past spring,
but the Senate didn't call the bill.
"It appears [Senate President James]
"Pate" Philip is just plain opposed,"
says Barbara Flynn Currie, the first
female House majority leader and
another former women's commission
chair. "I would hope that's not because
he has a problem with women, but it's
hard not to think that's where his
problem lies."
6 / March 1998 Illinois Issues