Ensuring Families Can Succeed
Everyone should be able to support their families, put food on the table, and make ends meet. But state policymakers have rolled back protections for workers and potential workers, favoring corporate handouts over common-sense reforms that support families and boost the economy.
These and other decisions exacerbate the enormous economic divide between the very wealthy and everyone else, and leave many Wisconsin families on their own as they struggle to take care of their basic needs.
Devaluing workers and potential workers especially harms people of color. Industries that employ large shares of workers of color are less likely to provide basic health and safety protections to their employees, and racial discrimination in the workplace makes it more difficult for workers of color to support their families.
Wisconsin policymakers need to take steps to address the intertwined challenges of the pandemic, the recession, and racial injustice, and make sure that all families and workers have full access to opportunity. Here’s how:
Increase the minimum wage
Wisconsin’s minimum wage of $7.25 has not been raised since 2009, and it has lost 17% of its value since then to inflation. Most states have a higher minimum wage than Wisconsin.
Raising the minimum wage would be an important step towards supporting workers of color. If Wisconsin raised the minimum wage to $10.50, more than one quarter of Black workers and nearly a third of Latinx workers in the state would get a raise. Full-time workers who get a raise would earn an additional $800 a year — enough to pay for a major car repair, or a month’s groceries for a family.
Require paid family and sick leave
Workers shouldn’t be forced to choose between their economic security and their health, or the health of a loved one. But without paid family and sick leave, workers may not be able to stay home from work when they are sick or someone in their family needs care.
Getting sick can have disastrous consequences for workers of color. More than half of Latinx workers and nearly 4 out of 10 of Black workers, are blocked from earning even a single paid sick day at their jobs. These workers typically are paid less and have access to less wealth than White workers, so getting a paycheck docked or losing a job due to illness can be devastating. Wisconsin should join the 13 other states that require employers to provide paid family or sick leave.
Let local communities respond to needs
Wisconsin has adopted a number of laws that prohibit local governments from taking steps to protect workers and families. State lawmakers have specifically prohibited local governments from setting higher minimum wages than the state, requiring employers to provide paid sick leave, putting a pause on evictions as communities in other states have done during the pandemic, and taking other steps to improve health and well-being.
The harmful effects of this power grab have been especially visible during the COVID-19 crisis, as state lawmakers have effectively tied the hands of local leaders seeking to protect their communities, while failing to provide leadership of their own on the state level.
Blocking community action centralizes power in the hands of the mostly White legislature and takes power away from local officials whose racial makeup is closer to that of the community. It’s time for the state to stop pre-empting local officials and allow them to respond to the needs in their own communities.
Remove barriers to driver licenses
Allowing all immigrants to obtain driver licenses — regardless of immigration status — would bring broad-based benefits to Wisconsin’s economy and boost families, communities, and businesses across the state. Permitting all immigrants to obtain licenses would make Wisconsin highways safer, result in insurance savings for a broad pool of drivers, and help businesses connect with workers who have skill sets that match employer needs.
If lawmakers allowed all immigrants to get driver licenses, an estimated 32,000 residents of Wisconsin would gain licenses, with 12,000 of those residents living with children who are U.S. citizens.
Many potential workers have lost their driver licenses for failing to pay fines — often for minor offenses like not paying a parking ticket — or for being behind on their child support payments. Being able to legally drive a car can be the determining factor in finding a job or being unemployed. Lawmakers should limit license suspensions to offenses related to dangerous driving.
Enable Wisconsinites to get timely and adequate assistance when they are unemployed
Almost 90 years ago, Wisconsin created the first system of unemployment benefits in the United States, but we are no longer a national leader. The COVID-19 pandemic and the recession it caused have put huge strains on unemployment insurance (UI) systems across the country, and have exposed many serious deficiencies in Wisconsin’s program.
Wisconsin policymakers need to make broad reforms in our state’s UI system. The needed reforms include: replacing the antiquated computer system that runs the program, streamlining the process for receiving benefits, increasing the maximum weekly payment, expanding eligibility for people working in the gig economy, eliminating the one-week waiting period for eligibility, and providing sufficient staffing to administer the program.
State lawmakers also need to make substantial changes to the Wisconsin Works (W-2) program, which was intended to provide vital assistance for low-income parents who have barriers to maintaining steady employment and meeting the requirements to qualify for UI benefits. These work impediments, such as unreliable transportation or not being eligible for sick days and family leave, disproportionately affect people of color and impede their participation in the UI system.
The W-2 program has failed to perform its safety net function during the severe COVID-induced recession. To help close the gaps in our assistance for jobless workers, policymakers should provide more emergency assistance from the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families block grant and ease the W-2 work requirements during public health emergencies.
Conclusion
Wisconsin should be a great place to raise a family, for people of all races. But research shows that Wisconsin is one of the worst places in the country to raise a black child, and other families of color are shut out of opportunity as well. By giving workers a raise and strengthening protections for workers and families, state lawmakers can start to close the enormous gaps in economic well-being between White families and families of color, and make sure that all families can succeed.