While Milwaukee is still an industrial center — fully 22% of its jobs are in industry, the most in the midwest
after Detroit — most industrial jobs have moved out to the suburbs. Milwaukee has very little base in the new
information economy — the Milken reports rates Milwaukee 50th and last among major US "high tech" cities .
Milwaukee's economy is based on jobs that can easily be moved to cheaper pastures, like the recent transfer
of Masterlock jobs to Mexico.
One measure of the weakness of Milwaukee's economy is its low percentage of residents with at least a bachelor's
degree, less than 15% — only Detroit is lower among major cities. Another is the strong reliance on temporary
service workers. More than a quarter of all inner city workers work for temporary service agencies, like the
Milwaukee-based Manpower, Inc. the nation's largest employer. Milwaukee's temporary service employment
rate is three times the national average.
Milwaukee's old-fashioned, dead-end economy spreads hopelessness among those least connected to jobs
with a future. While gangs historically have been youthful creations which dissolved as boys became men,
little hope is on the streets of Milwaukee's inner city. Instead, gangs, drugs, and a high rate of homicide persist
and threaten to get worse.

 

What Happened to the Guys in the Gang?

 

This table tracks the 228 founding members of 14 of Milwaukee's largest male gangs. It shows that
cocaine use is evenly distributed between ethnic groups, but occupation is not: African American
and Latino gang members are much more likely not to have a steay job, to have sold drugs,
and to have gone to prison.

It shows the impact of deindustrialization has been the replacement of good jobs with the drug economy.

See what happened to female gang members as they matured.

 

 

African-

American

White

Latino

Row Totals

SIG

WORK STATUS

       

.0001

Working

23.9% (26)

68.8% (22)

27.6% (24)

31.6% (72)

 

"Hustling"

55.5% (60)

21.9% (7)

62.1% (54)

53.1% (121)

 

Other #

21.1% (23)

9.4% (3)

10.3% (9)

15.4% (35)

 

EDUCATION

       

ns

Graduate or

GED

38.3% (31)

28% (7)

31.1% (23)

33.9% (61)

 

Not Graduate

61.7% (50)

72% (18)

68.9% (51)

66.1% (119)

 

DECEASED

6.4% (7)

6.3% (2)

5.7% (5)

6.1% (14)

ns

STILL LIVE

IN HOOD

       

.01

Yes

50.6% (45)

41.4% (12)

68.1% (47)

55.6% (104)

 

No ##

49.4% (44)

58.6% (17)

31.9% (22)

44.4% (83)

 

BEEN TO JAIL

         

Yes

67.0% (73)

34.5% (11)

69,0% (60)

63.2% (144)

.0001

No

13.8% (15)

46.9% (15)

18.4% (16)

20.2% (46)

 

Unknown

19.3% (21)

18.8% (6)

12.6% (11)

16.7% (38)

 

GANG

INVOLVEMENT

         

Some as adult

69.6% (71)

3.1% (1)

80.5% (66)

64.5% (138)

.0001

Same or more

than as teen

33.0% (36)

3.1% (1)

54.0% (47)

36.9% (84)

 

EVER SOLD

COCAINE

       

.001

Ever sold

69.7% (76)

56.2% (18)

81.6% (71)

72.4% (165)

 

Never sold

5.5% (6)

28.1% (12)

4. 6% (4)

8.3% (19)

 

Unknown or

deceased

24.7% (27)

15.7% (12)

13.7% (12)

19.3% (44)

 

COCAINE

USE ###

       

ns

Ever used

39.4% (43)

53.1% (17)

55.2% ( 48)

47.8% (108)

 

Never used

24.8% (27)

21.9% (7)

13.8% (12)

20.2% (46)

 

Used Daily

17.4% (19)

15.6% (5)

18.4% (16)

17.5% (40)

 

Column Totals

109

32

87

N= 228

 

 

How much money do gang members make selling drugs?

 

 

Mean Monthly Income from Drug Dealing: 1989-1991

87 African American and Latino Respondents

Average Monthly Income From Drug Sales

African American

Latino *

Totals

Never sold

 

15.8%

23.3%

18.4%

Less than $1000 monthly

(Equivalent to less than

$6/hour)

28.1

30.0

28.7

Between $1000 and $2000

monthly

(Equivalent to $7-$12/hour)

28.1

6.7

20.7

Between $2000 and $4000 monthly

(Equivalent to $13-$25/hour)

25.3

33.3

28.7

More than $10,000

monthly

 

1.8

6.7

3.4

Total N=100%

57

30

87

*Three whites were excluded from the analysis. One white founder never sold and the other two made less than $2000 monthly. Percentages may not equal 100% due to rounding