Reducing Unemployment in Milwaukee: Three Policy Solutions
This paper examines Milwaukee's unemployment crisis, which stood at 8 percent in August 2014, significantly higher than surrounding suburbs. The author identifies three structural barriers—limited employment services for people with disabilities, inadequate public transportation to suburban job centers, and low high school graduation rates—and proposes corresponding policy solutions: expanding the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation program, funding transit system expansion, and creating additional Job Corps centers. The analysis draws on local employment statistics, disability data, and transit patterns to demonstrate how targeted government investment in these areas could reduce unemployment citywide.
- Problem Background and History: Milwaukee unemployment crisis and three barriers
- Employment Services for People with Disabilities: Expanding vocational rehabilitation for disabled workers
- Public Transportation and Suburban Job Access: Transit funding to connect workers to suburban jobs
- Education and Job Training Programs: Job Corps expansion for high school credential attainment
- Conclusion: Summary of three complementary unemployment solutions
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What makes this paper effective
- Uses concrete local data (8% vs. 4.4% in Wauwatosa) to establish Milwaukee's unemployment problem as measurable and distinct from regional peers
- Structures the argument around three parallel, actionable solutions rather than abstract discussion, making the policy recommendations clear and traceable
- Anchors each solution in evidence: disability employment statistics for DVR, transit route maps for transportation, and graduation rates for Job Corps
- Acknowledges specific geographic and demographic barriers (13.3% of Milwaukee workers lack vehicles; 40.7% of disabled youth 16–24 are unemployed) that explain why general solutions fail
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper employs a problem-solution structure common in policy analysis and applied research. Rather than arguing a single thesis, the author identifies a complex problem (high unemployment), breaks it into root causes (disabilities, transport, education), and proposes proportionate interventions for each. This multipart framework allows the paper to address different audiences—disability advocates, transit planners, and education policymakers—within a unified argument. The technique also strengthens credibility: proposing three complementary approaches signals awareness that unemployment is systemic.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with comparative unemployment data, then moves to background on three barriers: disability employment gaps, transit inaccessibility, and education shortfalls. The thesis explicitly lists the three solutions. Each solution receives its own section with supporting evidence (DVR client statistics, transit route maps, graduation trends and wage tables). The conclusion restates how each solution addresses its corresponding problem. This linear progression allows readers to evaluate each recommendation independently while understanding their cumulative impact.
Problem Background and History
The city of Milwaukee estimated an August 2014 jobless rate of 8 percent, which compares with 4.4 percent in Wauwatosa, 5.6 percent in Waukesha, and 4.7 percent in New Berlin (Schmid, 2014). This disparity reveals a localized employment crisis that warrants targeted intervention. The unemployment rate in Milwaukee can be decreased through three primary strategies: (1) expanding the local Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Program to create more employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities, (2) providing local government funding for transportation to enable individuals to commute to jobs in other areas, and (3) funding additional Job Corps centers to increase high school diploma and GED attainment programs.
Approximately 40.7 percent of disabled individuals between the ages of 16 and 24 are not working (Institute, 2013). Currently, three Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) locations in Milwaukee serve individuals with disabilities who face substantial barriers to employment. The DVR was created to address the employment challenges facing people with disabilities. The program provides employment services and counseling to people with disabilities and arranges services to help individuals with disabilities obtain and maintain employment.
Employment opportunities are distributed unevenly throughout the Milwaukee area. Numerous employment locations are inaccessible via the Milwaukee County Transit System, preventing Milwaukee residents without personal vehicles from seeking jobs in these areas. This inequality is particularly acute in the city of Milwaukee, where 13.3 percent of workers lack access to a personal vehicle, compared with 6.1 percent of workers in Milwaukee County's suburbs (Public Policy Forum, 2013, p. 4). Jobs in suburban areas remain unreachable by the Milwaukee County Transit System, creating a significant barrier for the 13.3 percent of workers without transportation. This lack of transit access to employment opportunities directly contributes to Milwaukee's elevated unemployment rate.
In 2014, approximately one-third of jobs were in occupations that typically require postsecondary education for entry (United States Department of Labor, 2014). In today's economy, many jobs require individuals to have a high school diploma before employment. The average graduation rate in Milwaukee declined, falling to 60.6 percent for the class of 2013 from 61.8 percent for the class of 2012 (Richards, 2014). Job Corps is a free education and training program that helps individuals between the ages of 16 and 24 learn a career, earn a high school diploma or GED, and find and maintain employment.
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