Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced his reelection bid on July 19 with the key pillar of his campaign being his record on “protecting the lives and livelihoods of the people of Illinois.” Look at the “livelihoods” in Illinois, and that quickly looks like a poor campaign decision.
While COVID-19 and the public health responses to the crisis caused racial employment gaps to increase everywhere, the gap widened more in Illinois when compared to Illinois’ border states and the rest of the country. Job seekers’ education and other observable characteristics can explain little of the employment differences between racial and ethnic groups.
Black workers face comparatively higher risk of job loss at the first sign of economic weakness. As a result, a robust expansion has historically reduced disparities. Unfortunately, Illinois’ economy has persistently underperformed relative to the rest of the country. Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Illinois’ labor market under Pritzker suffered one of the worst first-year performances of any elected governor in recent history. In the time since, Illinois’ economy has continued to lag the rest of the nation, with both the gaps between Illinois and other states widening and the gaps between groups of Illinoisans continuing to widen.
COVID-19 exposed large racial disparities that existed well before the pandemic. Although large employment and wage disparities exist between whites and Blacks, they may not necessarily be tied to racist attitudes. Statistical discrimination could arise from employers having little reliable information about Black workers, but that could not explain why employment gaps for similar workers are much larger in Illinois when compared to the rest of the country.
Despite consistent improvements over time, discrimination in the labor market remains a problem in America today, especially among large employers. Research shows while most employers barely discriminate, a few discriminate heavily. That same research also shows while local demographics do not matter for discriminatory hiring decisions, local sentiment does. Racial discrimination is more severe in geographic locations with more prejudiced populations.
Read the full Illinois Policy piece here.
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