CONTACT: Tommy Jaime, 608-265-6175, tjaime@lafollette.wisc.edu
MADISON, Wis., – Wisconsin families with young children have greater difficulty covering their monthly expenses, less confidence that they could manage an unexpected expense, and greater rates of food insecurity, according to new Wisconsin-based survey data reported by the La Follette School of Public Affairs.
Professor Sarah Halpern-Meekin analyzed data from the WisconSays/La Follette Survey and found that more than a third of families with young children say it is difficult to cover all their monthly expenses compared to less than a quarter of other households. 60% of families with young children lack confidence they can manage an unexpected expense compared to 50% of other households. And while around a quarter of respondents report dealing with food insecurity, four in ten families with young children cite it as a concern. This jumps to two-thirds for families with young children and household incomes less than $50,000 per year.
“These trends drive home the challenging economic circumstances facing families with babies and preschoolers in Wisconsin today,” Halpern-Meekin noted.
Halpern-Meekin published an opinion piece highlighting these data in The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as part of the Main Street Agenda, a collaboration between the La Follette School and the Journal Sentinel aimed at raising awareness of the issues that concern Wisconsin residents in the lead up to the 2024 presidential election.
Each month during the Main Street Agenda, the La Follette School and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel feature a different policy topic in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Ideas Lab and other media. Each of these stories will use the new WisconSays/La Follette Survey data to highlight what matters to Wisconsin. The survey is part of the WisconSays opinion panel based out of the UW-Madison Survey Center that began in the summer of 2023. There are more than 3,500 Wisconsinites enrolled in this representative, statewide panel.
Halpern-Meekin also found that the top two most pressing concerns for families with young children were inflation and the unequal distribution of income and wealth. While families with young children had similar levels of concern about income inequality to other households (47% vs. 50%), they were more likely to cite inflation as a concern (75% vs. 63%).
Halpern-Meekin explained, “While inflation has been coming down recently, these survey results show the price pressures families with young children have been under over the past several years. The early childhood period is one that comes with a lot of expenses for families, so they have felt the crunch of higher prices.”
The La Follette School’s J. Michael Collins also touched on the lingering effects of inflation when he kicked off The Main Street Agenda in January by discussing Wisconsinites’ pocketbooks and their overall views on financial matters. Other topics planned for the yearlong campaign include energy transitions, the opioid crisis, confidence in government, and more.
In the fall, the Main Street Agenda will also include in-person community conversations around the state that will give people additional opportunities to share their views on issues that matter to them. Later in the fall, the Main Street Agenda will be capped by the annual La Follette Forum that brings together researchers, policymakers, and community leaders to address major policy issues. This year’s Forum will focus on the policy perspectives highlighted throughout the year and the civil dialogue efforts of the community conversations.
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About the La Follette School of Public Affairs
The Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin–Madison is a leading academic institution in improving the design, implementation, and evaluation of public policy and the practice of governance. The school began as the Center for the Study of Public Policy and Administration at UW–Madison in 1967 as part of the Department of Political Science. In 1983, the Wisconsin Legislature formally separated the center from the Department of Political Science and named it the Robert M. La Follette Institute of Public Affairs after the former Wisconsin governor, U.S. senator, and proponent of progressivism. In 1999, UW–Madison’s Center for Development became part of the La Follette Institute, which was renamed the La Follette School of Public Affairs. At the same time, the school began offering Master of Public Affairs (MPA) degrees and Master of International Public Affairs (MIPA) degrees. Today, La Follette School faculty, alumni, students, and staff extend the practice of the Wisconsin Idea across the state and around the world through research and outreach that inspires evidence-based policymaking, impacts society’s pressing problems, and advances the public good.
