Opportunity@Work

Study places working Nebraska families in poverty

30 Jul 2009 16:08:58 GMT

Nebraska City News Press
7/28/2009
By Dan Swanson

Some Otoe County families can not meet their basic needs despite having two adults working full-time, according to conclusions in a statewide study called The Family Bottom Line.

Opportunity@Work, a coalition of organizations interested in the economic sustainability of the state, compared cost of living and wages to determine what it takes for Nebraskans to “just get by.�

Regardless of population density, the report says, some Nebraskans with full-time jobs remain in poverty.

Midlands Voices: Increase in minimum wage will help; more steps await

24 Jul 2009 21:19:31 GMT

7/24/2009
Omaha World Herald

by Annemarie Bailey Fowler

The writer, of Omaha, is Opportunity@Work coordinator at Voices for Children in Nebraska.

Could 70 pennies really make a difference in somebody�s life? When it comes to the federal minimum wage, the answer is a resounding yes. Today�s increase in the minimum wage from $6.55 to $7.25 will provide a much-needed boost for families and individuals across the state.

Granted, an increase in the federal minimum wage is just a small part of the equation to help families throughout Nebraska. In the past seven years, our state�s child poverty rate has increased by 50 percent, from 10 percent in 2000 to nearly 15 percent in 2007. Family poverty in Nebraska has grown even as the national average declines.

It will take more than 70 cents to address these issues, but it�s a step in the right direction.

Study looks at 'The Family Bottom Line'

20 Jul 2009 20:59:42 GMT

Aurora News-Register
7/16/09
by James Hanson

A statewide study on family economics in Nebraska has concluded that families in towns both large and small need more income to make ends meet than many realize. The goal, therefore, of the "Family Bottom Line" is to help shape programs and policies to help working families in need.

Annemarie Bailey Fowler, the coordinator for Opportunity@Work in Omaha -- the organization that conducted this report -- said "The Family Bottom Line" reveals a realistic picture of what it takes for families to "just get by" in Nebraska.

Nebraskans need more to get by financially

14 Jul 2009 21:53:49 GMT

Alliance Times Herald
7/8/2009

Opportunity@Work - a coalition in Nebraska focused on the financial stability of Nebraska's families and communities - recently released findings from its report. The Family Bottom Line...

Cost rising, wages are not

9 Jul 2009 17:45:02 GMT

The North Platte Telegraph
7/14/2009
By Diane Wetzel

A family of two adults with one child of preschool age and another in school who live in Lincoln County requires an average income of $36,897 a year to meet their basic needs.

Those needs are housing, childcare, food, transportation, health care, taxes, and miscellaneous (such as cleaning supplies, hygiene items, diapers and school materials.) That's according to "The Family Bottom Line," a report from the coalition Opportunity@Work, which focuses on the financial stability of Nebraska families and communities. Authors of the report were surprised how much income was necessary for families to operate out of the red, said Annemarie Fowler of Voices for Children in Nebraska at statewide coordinator for Opportunity@Work.

Age of children has impact on family finances

5 Jul 2009 06:22:00 GMT

Southwest Iowa News

7/5/2009

The age of the children in your family plays a factor in the household budget. So says a study by the Opportunity at Work Coalition at Voices for Children in Nebraska. Opportunity at Work is a coalition seeking to strengthen the financial stability of Nebraska�s work force and families. The study released in late May found that the federal poverty level and federal minimum wage generate incomes far below what Nebraskans need to meet basic minimum needs such as housing, child care, food, transportation, health care and taxes. The study also found that the basic minimum cost - referred to as the Family Bottom Line - increased depending on the age of children in a household. "We know that costs vary on where a person lives and we know costs vary on family type," said Annemarie Fowler, the Opportunity at Work coordinator and co-author of the report....

The Family Bottom Line

4 Jul 2009 02:20:06 GMT

Grand Island Independent By Tracy Overstreet 7/3/2009 The age of the children in your family plays a factor in the household budget. So says a study by the Opportunity at Work Coalition at Voices for Children in Nebraska. Opportunity at Work is a coalition seeking to strengthen the financial stability of Nebraska's work force and families. The study released in late May found that the federal poverty level and federal minimum wage generate incomes far below what Nebraskans need to meet basic minimum needs such as housing, child care, food, transportation, health care and taxes. The study also found that the basic minimum cost -- referred to as the Family Bottom Line -- increased depending on the age of children in a household.

Safety Net Is Fraying for the Very Poor

4 Jul 2009 06:00:00 GMT

New York Times By Erik Eckholm 7/4/2009 Government “safety net� programs like Social Security and food stamps have pulled growing numbers of Americans out of poverty since the mid-1990s. But even before the current recession, these programs were providing less help to the most desperately poor, mainly nonworking families with children, according to a new study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a private group in Washington. The recession is expected to raise poverty rates, economists agree, although the impact is being softened by the federal stimulus package adopted this year, which temporarily expanded measures like food stamps, child tax credits, unemployment benefits and housing and tuition aid. In view of the gloomy employment report last week, economists are debating whether to increase stimulus funds over all. But in a side argument, poverty experts are also asking whether elements of the package aimed at the most vulnerable Americans should be extended beyond their scheduled expiration in two years or even made permanent....

Nebraska judge strikes down Medicaid rule

Nate Jenkins, Associated Press — 2 Jul 2009 15:39:29 GMT

The new American Dream is economic security

27 Jun 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Lincoln Journal Star BY ERIN ANDERSEN 6/27/2009 What is the American Dream? "It�s being happy and successful with my family. It�s meeting basic, day-to-day needs with ease,"said Tiffany Brown. "And it�s fulfilling your dreams." Not long ago the single mother of two elementary school age boys, could have said the American Dream was pie in the sky. She lost her job when difficulties with her 9-year-old autistic son forced her to miss too much work. Then she lost her car. And her house. "I lost everything. It all trickled down," Brown said. Yet she never gave up hope - or the belief that the America Dream is reachable. Today, she is more hopeful than ever. She "works" -- volunteers actually - 30 hours a week at the Center for People in Need in exchange for a $368 monthly public assistance check. In return, she gets job training, work experience and an education - which helped her discover a passion and a career in human services work. Despite the worst economy since the Great Depression, 83 percent of Americans say they still believe in the American Dream - albeit a bit different from the one we had even a few years ago, survey after national survey have found...

Sufficient family incomes calculated

31 May 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Omaha World-Herald 5/21/2009 Hard work alone isn't enough for some Nebraska families to meet their basic needs, even if their earning put them above the federal povery line, a new study has found...

Hard work, wages no longer enough for Nebraska Families

31 May 2009 18:00:00 GMT

Lincoln Journal Star - 5-20-09 In Lincoln, a single parent raising two kids ages 4 and 8 needs to work 2 1/2 full-time, minimum-wages jobs to meet a family's basic needs. Move that family to Columbus, and the parent could get by working two full-tim, minimum wage jobs...