EARN in Wisconsin
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COWS
Madison, Wisconsin ·Based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, COWS is a national think-and-do tank that promotes “high road” solutions to social problems.
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Kids Forward
Madison, Wisconsin ·Kids Forward advocates for effective, long-lasting solutions that break down barriers to success for children and families in Wisconsin. Using research and a community-informed approach, Kids Forward works to help every child, every family, and every community thrive.
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Wisconsin Network publications
Worker Power Levels the Playing Field: Community Benefits for Public Subsidies in the Iron District
- March 22, 2023
- Pablo Aquiles-Sanchez, and Laura Dresser
In May 2022, Kenosha-based Bear Development and Kacmarcik Enterprises announced plans to begin work on a soccer stadium accompanied by ancillary, mixed-use developments – “The Iron District” – in downtown […]
Facts From the Frontline: Getting By in Milwaukee’s Abundant Low Wage Service Jobs
- March 22, 2023
- Pablo Aquiles-Sanchez, and Laura Dresser
Over the past 40 years, the union manufacturing jobs that once flourished in Milwaukee have been replaced by low-wage, non-union service jobs, exacerbating racial and economic disparities. Properly addressing the […]
Playing with Public Money in Milwaukee: Data, Context and Question on Soccer Stadiums
- March 22, 2023
- Pablo Aquiles-Sanchez, and Laura Dresser
Developers often approach cities disguising their private ventures as irresistible public goods. Asking for public money for sports stadiums and entertainment venues, they promise economic development, urban renewal, and neighborhood […]
State of Working Wisconsin 2022
- August 30, 2022
- COWS
- Laura Dresser, Joel Rogers, Pablo Aquiles-Sanchez, and Anna Milewski
In celebration of Wisconsin workers, COWS releases The State of Working Wisconsin 2022 with the most recent data available on wages, jobs, disparities, and unions to build a stronger understanding of what […]
The Crisis in Milwaukee’s Service Industry
- February 16, 2022
- COWS
- Laura Dresser, Pablo Aquiles-Sanchez, and Adam Kanter
There’s a crisis in service work in Milwaukee. Too many of these jobs—in food service, janitorial work, security services, and human and health services—offer low wages, inadequate and often unpredictable […]
What a $15 Minimum Wage Means for Working Wisconsin
- March 15, 2021
- COWS
We’ve released a new factsheet on how raising the minimum wage to $15 by 2025 in Wisconsin would impact the state’s workers. Using data from the Economic Policy Institute’s recently […]
The State of Working Wisconsin 2020
- September 3, 2020
- COWS
- COWS Staff
A NEW REPORT FOR AN UNPREDICTABLE ERA For more than two decades, we’ve released The State of Working Wisconsin. This year, we’ve released a new digital report to meet the reality […]
Race in the Heartland: Equity, Opportunity, and Public Policy in the Midwest
- October 10, 2019
- Common Good Iowa
- Colin Gordon
A half-century removed from the high-tide of the civil rights movement, progress on racial equity has slowed or stalled on many fronts. Nowhere is this more starkly evident than in the […]
Race in the Heartland: Equity, Opportunity, and Public Policy in the Midwest
- October 10, 2019
- Colin Gordon
A number of factors—historical, economic, demographic, and political—have shaped patterns of racial disparity and race relations in the Midwest. Of the eight most segregated cities in 2010’s Census data, six […]
The State of Working Wisconsin 2019: Fact & Figures
- August 30, 2019
- COWS
- Laura Dresser & Joel Rogers
Each year on Labor Day, COWS draws a picture of how working people in Wisconsin are faring. The long report, The State of Working Wisconsin, is released biannually on even-numbered […]