From the May 23, 2002 Center on Wisconsin Strategy
As a range of demographic and quality of life indicators are released from the 2000 Census and other sources, a complex picture of our state is emerging. Wisconsin has gone through significant changes on a number of important economic and social factors, showing improved lives for many of our residents and emerging challenges for others. But as no single statistic or set of numbers can fully illustrate the quality of life for all state residents, the information made available this week should be considered as only one more tool for helping us to further understand where we now stand, and where we may be headed.
Low Road
Getting to and from Work
The percentage of the work force driving alone to the job rose from 75 percent in 1990 to 80 percent in 2000. Meanwhile, the percentage of carpoolers dropped from 12 percent to 10 percent; public transportation users fell slightly from 2.4 percent to 2 percent; those who walked decreased from 6 to 4 percent; and workers using other means of transportation, including bicycles, fell from 2.2 to .9 percent.
Overall, the average commute time to work went from 18 minutes to almost 21; at 42 minutes per day, this means an average of 182 hours per year spent traveling to and from work. These trends pose challenges to our air quality, personal health and safety, and the time we spend getting from one important place to the next.
Paying the Rent
Data on household income from the 1990 census show that households below the federal poverty line were much more likely to spend 30% or more of their income on rent than those with earnings above the poverty line ($17,650 for a family of four in 2001). While comparable data from the 2000 census is not yet available, current figures show that one in three households statewide pay 30 percent or more of their income in rent, a slice of the budget that, according to federal guidelines, is unaffordable.
Child Poverty
While 1990 census data showed Wisconsin as having the fifth lowest white child poverty rate in the nation, and the eighth lowest overall child poverty rate, Wisconsin also had the second worst black child poverty rate in the country, second only to Louisiana. Recent data released by the census shows lower overall poverty rates among households headed by single mothers, a promising trend that we hope will also surface in yet-to-be-released data on black child poverty.
High Road
Education
Overall education attainment levels have increased statewide. The percentages of those receiving a high school degree or less have decreased, while the percentages of those attending some college and higher have increased; overall the percentage of those with a bachelor’s degree or higher rose from 18% in 1990 to 22% in 2000. The percentage of Wisconsinites without at least a high school degree dropped from approximately 22 percent in 1990 to 12 percent in 2000.
However, while increases in overall educational attainment levels in Wisconsin are laudable, 1990 data showed that ethnic minorities were significantly under-represented among those with high school or higher education degrees. African-Americans, for example, constituted five percent of the general population, but only 2.7 percent of those with high school degrees; Asian and Pacific Islanders were one percent of the general population, but only .2 percent of those with high school degrees; and those identified as an ‘other race’, while .8% of the general population, were .3% of those with high school degrees. Similar data, when released from the 2000 Census, should be reviewed carefully and used to set strategies for closing the race gap in education.
Child Welfare
In a recent study by the Institute for Innovation in Social Policy at Fordham University, Wisconsin ranked fifth lowest nationwide for teen suicide, and eighth lowest for incidence of child abuse. Overall, the study, based on census and other government data from 1998 and 1999, ranked Wisconsin as 5th best in the nation for social health, earning A grades for income inequality, average wages and health insurance coverage.
Taken together, the data suggests an improved quality of life in Wisconsin. But racial disparities in education, income, and incarceration rates, persistent poverty rates, and stagnating median wages pose serious challenges which should not be ignored in times of general prosperity. The high road is only so if it is well, and universally, traveled.