For most single parents who are expected to work full-time under current welfare initiatives and who have children needing child care, use of a car is the most practical means of transportation. The difficulties of getting to the child care provider, then to work, back to the child care provider and home contribute to job retention problems, particularly for single parents lacking a family car or a valid driver's license. The Milwaukee Public Schools census and U. S. census data were used to determine driver's license and suspension rates for teenagers by zipcode, central city and suburban areas. This research work is part of a continuing effort to provide insights into the child care and transportation conundrum facing low-income families in Milwaukee County. The data will be used to identify areas in which policy and program initiatives may be most effective.
Suspension is the more lenient action and means the privilege is put on hold for a given time.
Revocation means complete termination of the driving privilege. While 30 percent of adult male drivers in the county had suspensions, only 15 percent had a suspension for a traffic- related reason. For Milwaukee County women suspensions for driving while intoxicated and for other traffic violations were distributed throughout the county, while suspensions for failure to pay fines were heavily concentrated in central city Milwaukee neighborhoods with large concentrations of families living in poverty. Milwaukee County men showed four times as many suspensions as women. Again, the largest numbers of suspensions were for failure to pay fines and these were heavily concentrated in central city Milwaukee neighborhoods.