There is a lack of affordable housing in Milwaukee. That’s according to a new report released by the Wisconsin Policy Forum on Wednesday. The report also found that the city is in need of eviction prevention resources.
Joe Peterangelo is a senior researcher at the Wisconsin Policy Forum. He says the pandemic has increased the need to make sure everyone has stable housing in Milwaukee, but that communities of color have been affected the most by the lack of affordable housing.
“There's definitely a lot of major racial gaps that need to be addressed,” he says. “When it comes to the renter’s side, since so many Black and Hispanic households are renting, they're the ones who are more likely to be rent burdened.”
While Peterangelo says building more affordable housing and having more resources available to support renters would help, raising the city’s minimum wage could also be another way to tackle the issue.
“It's important to keep in mind that housing solutions alone won't solve the problem,” he says. “We also need to increase incomes in Milwaukee.”
Peterangelo stops short of advocating for hiking the minimum wage here.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has proposed an increase in the minimum wage to $15 an hour in his budget plan. The Republican-controlled Joint Committee on Finance will begin making changes to the governor’s proposal, but GOP leaders oppose the wage hike and say they’ll dismiss that item from the budget.
