The Budget's Effects on Public Workers

Changes in the state budget and budget repair legislation will make it harder for low-income workers in the public sector to make ends meet, according to a new analysis by the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families.

A two-page brief released today examines these changes and their impact on the families of people employed in public sector jobs. Beginning teachers, janitors, workers in school, and other working-class public employees could lose thousands of dollars per year, the equivalent of as much as six months of grocery costs.

The new WCCF analysis found that:

• Workers earning the least will take the biggest hits to their budget – as much as 15% in lost income and increased costs.
• The impact on low-income public sector workers, in terms of monetary impact, will be far greater than that on workers in the private sector.
• Working-class families with children will be hit especially hard, as the state rolls back tax credits for working families with children and support for child care.

Taken together, changes in the budget and budget repair bills could potentially push many families that are barely scraping by and still reeling from the recession into insolvency.

Thousands of Wisconsin households, many of whom are not very well off to begin with, stand to take a huge pay cut. It’s bound to take a toll on the well-being of those families and on the well-being of the state’s economy. The degree to which low- and moderate-income people are being asked to pay the tab for closing the budget deficit is striking, and that is especially true for low-income public sector workers with children.

The brief can be found here.