Jobs and Skills Publications

Below is a list of our reports related to jobs and skills, in descending order by year published. Explore other topics here and all High Road Strategy Center reports here.

Rogers, J. Little to Celebrate on Labor Day. Wisconsin State Journal, 2003, p. A10.

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,. Milwaukee Jobs Initiative: Five Years of Better Jobs in the Milwaukee Metropolitan area. COWS, 2002.

COWS 2-page report on the overview of the Milwaukee Jobs Initiative (MJI) and the importance of corresponding partnerships.
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,. Sustaining Wisconsin: Informing Citizens, Empowering Democracy. COWS, 2002.

An overview of “Sustaining Wisconsin”, a COWS outreach program designed to bring Wisconsin residents the “real story” about important public-policy issues that affect their lives.
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,. The Local Child Care Wage Initiative: Investing in Our Future by Investing in Quality Care for Our kids. COWS, 2002.

COWS overview of the Local Child Care Wage Initiative, a two-year pilot program, inaugurated by the City of Madison and Dane County in 2000. This is the fourth report.
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Dresser, L., and A. Olds. Better Wages, Better Care: The Link Between Job Quality and Child Care Quality in Dane County. COWS, 2002.

COWS report of the Local Child Care Wage Initiative. COWS assumes that improving the income of caregivers will help keep dedicated workers in the field and reduce turnover of the workforce. This third report discusses turnover, why turnover is a special problem in the child care field, and reasons that turnover rates in full-day group child care centers are so high. This report also examines empirical evidence of the relationship between turnover, child care quality, and care workers’ wages in Dane County.
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Dresser, L., and J. Rogers. The State of Working Wisconsin 2002. COWS, 2002.

The State of Working Wisconsin, 2002 is our attempt to answer questions regarding the recent recession and unemployment with the best and most recent data available. Drawing on a wide variety of information on family incomes, taxes, wages, unemployment, and poverty, it examines the impact of today’s economy on Wisconsin workers and families.

Documents include both Full Report and Summary.
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,. No Pay No Gain: The Structure and Persistence of Bad Jobs in Wisconsin. COWS, 2002.

A report about the structure and persistence of low-wage jobs in Wisconsin (August 2002).
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,. “Wisconsin Manufacturers Development Consortium Cluster Development Policy in Action”. The Advanced Manufacturing Project, COWS, 2002.

The Wisconsin Manufacturers Development Consortium (WMDC), in conjunction with the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership, was formed in 1998 to improve supplier performance and to promote progressive supply management practices in the state of Wisconsin. This is considered an Interim Report.
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Freeman, R. B., and J. Rogers. A Proposal to American Labor. no. 274, The Nation, 2002, pp. 18-24.

This June 24, 2002 article discusses the changing dynamic within labor unions-present labor organizing is not keeping pace with economic changes and a nearly lethal employer and policy environment. The authors propose the idea of “open-source unionism,” a type of unionism in which membership is more diversified and the internet is used as a means of communication. The case for “open-source unionism” begins by recognizing that traditional unionism and strategies for advancing it are not succeeding.
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,. Pulling Apart: Wisconsin’s Strong 1990s Growth Masked Growing Inequality. COWS and Wisconsin Council on Children & Families, 2002.

A report about Wisconsin’s growing inequality which outpaces the national trend.
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