(Image: Office of the Governor)
Governor Evers says the disparities between white and black people in the state are “sobering” and “devastating.”
He’s calling on the state to take action.
Evers says the mortality rate for black babies in Wisconsin is the highest in the country, and three times the rate for white babies. One in three black children live in poverty, and that’s 3-1/2 times the rate for white children.
Evers reports 85 percent of white people between 25 and 54 years old are employed, compared to 61 percent of black adults, and that’s the highest disparity in the country. Black adults are three times as likely to be unemployed, and he points out that’s the worst gap in the nation.
The median household income for white families is a little more than twice as much. And Evers reports 70 percent of white families own their home, while only 27 percent of black families do.
Evers says the state can help address health disparities, if Majority Republicans in the Legislature accept federal funding to expand Medicaid. He calls it “unconscionable” that the state is leaving that money behind.
