Income inequality in Wisconsin continues its long path upward, according to a new academic analysis, and voices at the community level are hopeful about closing gaps – but warn it won’t happen overnight.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison summary says income inequality in the Badger State isn’t quite as high as the national level, but has been growing steadily over the past 30 years.
The author said higher-income individuals benefit disproportionately from the economic growth.
Robert Kraig, executive director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin, said years of policy decisions and tax code changes are driving factors.
“We need a deliberate policy that restores the conditions for greater economic equality and greater racial equality,” said Kraig, “because our socioeconomic system is color-coded, where you are more likely to be poor if you’re Black or Brown than if you are white.”
Wisconsin ranks 50th for the rate of business ownership among minorities. Businesses owned by people of color represent 10.9% of total businesses despite people of color representing 19.2% of the state’s total population. Underrepresentation in business ownership is especially acute for Black and Latino owners.
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Kraig said there are no longer guaranteed pathways for people to secure good-paying jobs, whether they pursue college or look for work after graduating high school.
He said he thinks jobs tied to clean energy growth, spurred by federal investments, can help reverse years of troubling trends.
But he said other important sectors, like childcare, need structural changes to foster stronger wage growth.
Kraig suggested that if someone working a low-wage job can’t take time off to attend a training course, they stand little chance of advancing in a new career.
So, he said another reform that’s needed is an overhaul of job training programs.
“A lot of the workforce training programs we have are helpful to a number of people,” said Kraig, “but they don’t move the inequality numbers because they don’t reach enough people.”
The Inflation Reduction Act has set aside billions to train and place people in clean energy jobs. But Kraig said other programs need to pay people to train and start working in a new career much sooner.
Cover Photo: There are renewed concerns about being able to reverse the longstanding widening of income inequality. But recent federal data did show that average wages had surpassed inflation. (Adobe Stock)
Publisher’s Notes: Fresh data shed light on income inequality in WI was first published by Public News Service and republished with permission.
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