Report: More Nebraska children living in poverty

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By TIMBERLY ROSS / The Associated Press

A report that suggests a growing number of poor children in Nebraska is troubling because poverty affects nearly every aspect of a child’s life, a children’s advocacy group said.

“Children that experience poverty ... are more likely to experience other risk factors, like child abuse, neglect,” said Annemarie Bailey Fowler of the group Voices for Children, which released its annual Kids Count report for 2007 on Tuesday.

She said children from poor families are less likely to have adequate health care and nutrition, which could affect their progress in school.

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The report stated that 15 percent of Nebraska children were living in poverty and 36 percent were from families considered to be low income. And, between 2000 and 2005, the report stated, the poverty rate for Nebraska children rose 50 percent.

However, the report also said Nebraska ranked first in the country for the percent of children living with working parents. Of children ages 6 and younger, 73 percent of their mothers worked full time. Figures for fathers were not provided in the report.

“The parental work force in Nebraska is very strong,” Bailey Fowler said.

Even so, 71 percent of all black children living in Nebraska were from low-income families, which the report described as families earning 200 percent of the federal poverty level or less. In 2006, the federal poverty level was $20,000 for a family of four, so such a family could have an income of up to $40,000 and still be considered low income under the report’s guidelines.

Of the state’s Hispanic children, 61 percent were from low-income families. For white children, it was 26 percent.

“This is an indication that more and more working Nebraska families are struggling to put food on the table for their children,” the report said.

The number of families receiving food stamps also went up — to 51,146 in 2006.

Bailey Fowler said the disconnect between the number of working parents and the poverty rate could be explained by the types of jobs common in Nebraska, such as low-paying jobs in the service or agricultural industries.

Rising costs with little or no wage increases also have an effect, she said.

The report, based on 2005 and 2006 data, the most recent years information was available, also included information on child abuse and neglect cases, education, juvenile arrests and out-of-home care and adoption.

Among the findings:

— An estimated 45,000 Nebraska children were without health insurance in 2006, the report said, citing data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Roughly 32,000 of those children were from low-income families.

— There were 12,629 cases of child abuse and neglect investigated in 2006, resulting in 3,065 documented claims involving 4,501 children — a decrease over the previous year and the first since 1999.

— Seventeen Nebraska children died because of child abuse or homicide in 2006. There were nine such deaths in 2005, 10 in 2004 and 12 in 2003.

— In 2006, 10,972 children were in out-of-home care at some point, an increase of 175 over 2005 and 611 over 2004.

— During the 2005-06 school year, 2,601 Nebraska students dropped out of school. That was a decrease of 166 over the previous year.