Home > Projects > Work & Economic Support > Policy Recommendations

Work & Economic Support Policy Recommendations

In 2005, more than 179,000 Wisconsin children lived in families with earnings below the federal poverty level of $20,000 for a family of four and fully one out of every three Wisconsin children live in families earning less than 200% of that poverty level. To ensure that Wisconsin’s economic growth leaves no one behind, we must ensure that taxpayer investments are being used to create family supporting jobs and to continue to fund the vital supports needed by our state’s working families.  Our state budget should also prioritize changes to our financial aid rules so that part-time workers can more easily access our technical college system, improving our adult basic education services, and implementing a transitional jobs pilot program to assist W-2 participants with barriers to work.

Allow Financial Aid for Less than Half-Time Students - For many working adults, the technical college and university systems provides the best option for increasing their skills and earning higher credentials in order to maintain or upgrade their employment. For many, however, the demands of work combined with family commitments occasionally requires them to temporarily drop to less-than-half-time status for a short period of time. Currently the state’s main financial aid tool - the Wisconsin Higher Education Grant - requires students to be attending at least half-time. Changing that and making less-than-half-time students eligible for financial aid at our technical colleges and universities will help these students stay in the kinds of programs that have been shown to have significant positive effects on employment and wages, and will increase their chances of economic success. For more on why financial aid for less than half-time students is critical to working adults, see "Already Enrolled."

Implement a Transitional Jobs Pilot Program – Many W-2 participants have multiple barriers to employment. Transitional jobs programs have been shown in other states to help those hardest to place in employment make successful connections to the workplace.  Participants gain needed work experience and skills while remaining within the program and receiving continued case management assistance.  Earning “real wages” also makes these participants eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit, a significant boost for low-income workers – and something that is not available to those in fully subsidized community service job placements. For a one-page description of transitional jobs programs, see Time for a Meaningful Transitional Jobs Program Within W-2, and for more evidence of the success of existing or past transitional jobs program, see Evidence Supports Real Work, Real Pay Transitional Jobs Pilot as a Workforce Strategy.

Reform the Provision of Adult Basic Education Services – Research shows that the payoff from completing post-secondary coursework and obtaining a post-GED credential such as an Associate’s Degree is significant.  In fact, those who gained an Associate’s Degree in Wisconsin had median wages 32.5 percent higher than those who simply completed some post-secondary coursework but did not complete the degree ($12.22 vs. $16.19 per hour) in 2005. Many working adults must first complete Adult Basic Education (ABE) courses, however, to become eligible and prepared for Associate Degree programs. But currently the completion rates of ABE programs are low, and the numbers of those moving onto subsequent, for-credit, degree-granting programs is very small. “Contextualizing” the basic offerings to specific occupations and industries, fostering transitions to higher-level courses, and offering enhanced student services to those juggling work, family and school are reforms that would help m ore working adults upgrade their skills and obtain higher quality jobs. Improving ABE outcomes and transitions will also help meet the growing demand for skilled workers in our state. For a brief discussion of the need for ABE reform as well as specific steps that should be taken, see Reform Adult Basic Education to Improve Completion and Transition Rates.