This year, we provide extra focus on Wisconsin’s working women, shedding light on the progress women have made and the disparities they still face. We focus on policy opportunities – investments in child care and raising the minimum wage – to honor and support working Women in Wisconsin.
Wisconsin Women are Committed to Work, But Their Advantage is Shrinking
For decades, women in Wisconsin have demonstrated a strong attachment to work. This is evident in WW1 where Wisconsin women’s labor force participation rate is consistently well above the national level. In the late 1990s, Wisconsin women’s work was nearly 10 percentage points higher than national levels of women’s work.
Though women’s work maintains above the national level, Wisconsin women’s participation advantage has been shrinking since the turn of the century. In 2023, Wisconsin women’s labor force participation (61.8%) was still higher than the national rate (57.3%), but the difference had fallen to less than five percentage points.
Wages for Women in Wisconsin Continue to Lag Those of Men, and the Pay Gap is Substantially Worse for Women of Color
In 2023, Wisconsin women’s median wage was $22.03 while men’s median was $25.09. At the median, women earned 88 cents for every dollar a man earned. This is Wisconsin’s gender wage gap.
WW2 shows the dramatic closing of the gender pay gap between working women and men from 1979 to 2023. In 1979, for every dollar that a man earned, women earned just 58 cents. By 2023, for every dollar that a man earned, women earned 88 cents. Although still far from pay equity, working women in Wisconsin have been moving closer since 1979. The gap has closed both because women’s wages are up, and because men’s wages have fallen.
The Gender Gap has Shrunk and White Women Have Made the Biggest Gains of All
WW3 demonstrates the persistent pay gap for women by race and ethnicity compared to white men.
Despite considerable progress towards pay equity over the past 40 years, in 2023 working women in Wisconsin of all races and ethnicities continue to earn substantially less than white men. Compared to white men white women earn 16% less, Black women earn 25% less, and Hispanic women 33% less. These pay gaps demonstrate sustained gender inequality, but also the particularly deep disparities faced by women of color in the state.
Investments in Early Care and Education Can Help Advance Women's Economic Security
The lack of affordable and accessible high-quality early care and education forces parents to pass up work opportunities, work fewer hours, or leave the labor force entirely. This is especially true of women because women carry a disproportionate share of the work of care in families. When moms pass up opportunities or leave the labor market altogether, their families’ economic security falls. But it isn’t just families who lose out. The overall potential of Wisconsin’s economy falls as well. According to Ready Nation, the long-term impact of the infant-and-toddler child care crisis costs the state of Wisconsin $1.9 billion annually.
Child care is extraordinarily expensive. According to Raising Wisconsin, care for one infant costs 1/5th of the annual income of the median Wisconsin family. Even at these prices, care is hard to find. Raising Wisconsin documents that Wisconsin families are struggling to find centers that are accepting new children. Child care “deserts” can be found in more than 50% of Wisconsin and up to 70% in rural areas.
Women are at the heart of the early care and education staffing nearly all of the jobs in the sector. Research sponsored by the State Department on Children and Families shows that these jobs offer very low wages and weak benefits. More than half of Wisconsin’s child educators have some form of higher education degree but earn an average of $11-$13 dollars an hour and rarely have benefits. Low wages are linked to high turnover rates which disrupts the quality of relationships for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers throughout the state.
Substantial public investment in the early care and education sector can help ensure that Wisconsin families, early care professionals, children, and the state economy thrive. That requires a financial commitment. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the state of Wisconsin used federal funds to make such an investment. Child Care Counts supported some 3,000 child care businesses in Wisconsin, enabling them to stay open, increase their wages, update their programs, and in some cases prevent tuition increases for parents. However, this program will run out of money in 2024.
Wisconsin needs to prioritize the development of long-term sustainable investment methods, taking inspiration from New Mexico, which is ensuring early childhood education for all families who are working, seeking work, or attending school, and who earn up to 400% of the federal poverty level. Through a constitutional amendment, New Mexico is able to redirect funds from existing educational resources to subside the cost for families. Or we can look to Minnesota which invested more than $500 million to address workforce shortages and raise early care and education provider wages. For more information on how you can make an impact on improving Wisconsin’s childcare and education system visit RaisingWisconsin.org
Increasing the Minimum Wage to $15/hour Would Lift Over a Hundred Thousand Wisconsin Women Out of Poverty
Raising the minimum wage would help more than 100,000 working women in the state. This would not only increase economic security for women and their families, it would also reduce the gender pay gap. Women make up a disproportionate share of low wage workers. Sectors with some of the lowest wages include retail, restaurants, and early childhood education — all dominated by women. Raising Wisconsin’s minimum wage to $15 would increase the wages of 18% – nearly one-in-five – women, compared to just 11% of men. Such a wage adjustment would not only empower more women economically but also bring many low-wage industries closer to the median wage, fostering a fairer economic landscape for female dominated industries.
Eliminating the minimum wage exception for tipped workers would also reach women disproportionately. In Wisconsin, the minimum wage for tipped workers is just $2.33, a truly pathetic and insulting level of compensation for work, and lower than all neighboring states. A higher tipped minimum wage increases the income of tipped workers, who are mostly women, and provides them with more predictable income. In Minnesota, all workers earn the state’s minimum wage, there is no exception for tipped workers. Ending the exemption that leaves tipped workers far below the wage floor lifts earnings and promotes financial security among women workers.
Wisconsin’s minimum wage has been stuck at the federal minimum level of $7.25, and has not been raised since 2009. In our report “Can’t Survive on $7.25: Higher Minimum Wages for Working Wisconsin,” we delve into the potential impacts of raising Wisconsin’s minimum wage to $15 and $20, outlining compelling reasons to advocate for improved labor standards within the state.
For more insights from our report, please visit https://highroad.wisc.edu/publications/cant-survive-on-7-25-higher-minimum-wages-for-working-wisconsin/