New Report Shows Impact of ECE on WI Workforce

A new report by the Center on Wisconsin Strategy, based out of UW-Madison, highlights the important connection between early childhood education (ECE) and the state’s workforce. “The State of Working Wisconsin 2023” particularly points to ECE and the challenges of obtaining affordable care as contributors to the ongoing decline in women’s labor force participation.

Historically, women in Wisconsin have worked at higher rates than women across the nation, but since 2019 that gap has been shrinking. In 2022, Wisconsin’s women’s labor force participation dipped below 60% for the first time since the 1980s.

“While Wisconsin women’s’ labor force participation used to dramatically exceed national rates,” reads the report, “in recent years, the gap is shrinking. This makes the state legislature’s lack of investment in child care infrastructure in the state especially troubling, as it is often women who carry a disproportionate burden of care for children.”

The report also predicts troubles ahead for women in the workforce. “The state’s decreasing investment in child care is likely to further challenge working women in this state.”

This means that without consistent, sustainable investment into the sector, more and more women will be forced out of the workforce to care for their children, putting considerable strain on employers, the economy and the state as a whole.