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Conservatively Speaking
State Senator Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin) represents parts of four counties: Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, and Walworth. Her Senate District 28 includes New Berlin, Franklin, Greendale, Hales Corners, Muskego, Waterford, Big Bend and parts of Greenfield, East Troy, and Mukwonago. Senator Lazich has been in the Legislature for more than a decade. She considers herself a tireless crusader for lower taxes, reduced spending and smaller government.
Wisconsin's unhealthy culture
By Mary Lazich
Friday, Aug 8 2008, 10:38 AM
The health of Wisconsin needs serious improvement. I am speaking from a cultural rather than a physical perspective.
Taking a cue from William Bennett’s The Index of Leading Cultural Indicators, the Wisconsin Family Council (WFC) has released Wisconsin Cultural Indicators, a comprehensive review of Wisconsin trends in various social and cultural categories. The CEO of WFC, Julaine Appling writes the report shows how these indicators, “impact Wisconsin’s best natural resource: her traditional families.”
Here are some of the unhealthy findings:
- During 2006, there were 6,100 births to women age 19 and under in Wisconsin, and almost 9 out of 10 of these births were to unmarried women.
- During 2006, 1 out of every 3 babies born in Wisconsin was to an unmarried mother.
- A total of 498,429 reported abortions occurred in Wisconsin between 1974, the year following Roe v. Wade, and 2007.This figure is greater than the combined populations of Madison, Green Bay, Racine, and Eau Claire. In 2007, there were 8,267 abortions, or an average of about 23 abortions a day in Wisconsin. During 2007, 77 percent of the abortions performed in this state were to women never married.
- Since 1980, the marriage rate has decreased 34 percent in Wisconsin, primarily due to cohabitation.
- The divorce rate in Wisconsin has increased steadily since the enactment of no-fault divorce legislation in 1978. Over half of the divorces granted in Wisconsin in 2007 involved children under the age of 18.
- The majority of domestic abuse incidents occur outside of a marital relationship in Wisconsin.
- Since 1997, the overall number of STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) has increased steadily in Wisconsin.
- During 2004 and 2005, Wisconsin ranked 1st in the nation in underage drinking (those between the ages of 12 and 20).
- Since 1960, the adult prison population in Wisconsin has increased 8 fold, and between 2000 and 2005, there was a 66.7 percent increase in the adult prison population.
- Between 1997 and 2006, there was an 84.7 percent increase in the amount of money wagered at Wisconsin casinos on Indian reservations. During 2006, $16 billion was wagered at casinos on reservations, or about $2,855 per person in the state of Wisconsin during 2006. Recent research reveals a relationship between the presence of casino gambling in a community and an increase in crime rates in Wisconsin. The 2001 study, published in a peer-reviewed journal found that the opening of a casino in a county increased the total number of index crime arrests in that county (violent and non-violent) by 8.6 percent and non-index crime arrests by 14.8 percent.
There is some good news:
- Between 1997 and 2007, there was a 40 percent decline in the number of arrests of juveniles in Wisconsin.
- Wisconsin students continue to score above the national average on ACT and SAT tests.
- The high school dropout has steadily decreased since peaking in the 1970’s.
- During the 1984-85 school year, there were 966 home-school students in Wisconsin. This number increased to 20, 743 during the 2004-05 school year, suggesting parents are increasingly exercising some of the school choice options available.
I have a keen interest in the following finding. The birth rate among Wisconsin teenagers aged 15 to 19 has decreased nearly 17 percent in the last decade. During 2004, Wisconsin’s birth rate among 15-19 year olds was nearly 27 percent below the national average.
The WFC says, “The decline in the teenage pregnancy rate can be attributed to abstinence and abstinence education programs. An April 2003 study in Adolescent Family and Health found that 67 percent of the decrease in teen pregnancy rate among women between the ages of 15 and 19 can be attributed to abstinence.”
The WFC also makes reference to a bill I authored during the 2005 legislative session that became law: “In 2005, the Wisconsin state legislature passed a bill that requires all public schools that teach human growth and development to stress ‘abstinence from sexual activity as the preferred choice of behavior in relationship to all sexual activity’ and that ‘abstinence from sexual activity before marriage is the most effective way to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases…’”
Progress has been made in some areas but for the sake of our families, there clearly is room for significant improvement in others. I agree with Julaine Appling that this extensive report can be an excellent guide for policy and decision makers.
The WFC report can be found here.
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