Scotts Bluff poverty among children higher than national average

from The Bellevue Leader

By JENNIFER BARTEN , Midlands News Service

More than 2,100 children in Scotts Bluff County live in poverty, according to a statewide survey.

Child poverty in Scotts Bluff County is higher than both the state and national averages, with 22 percent of children 17 and younger living in poverty,
Between 2000 and 2005, the poverty rate for Nebraska children in that age group rose 50 percent and is still on the rise, according to the Voices for Children "Kids Count 2007" Report.

"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.

In Nebraska, 15 percent of children between the ages of 1 and 17 are living in poverty, compared with 18 percent in the nation. Thirty-six percent are from families considered low income. In 2007, a family of four making $20,650 or less was considered at the poverty level. Low-income is classified as $40,000 in annual income for a family of four.

Kelly Reisig, community relations specialist at Panhandle Community Services, said poverty guidelines are established annually by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Of the state's Hispanic children, 61 percent of Hispanic children were from low-income families, compared with 26 percent of white children.

A positive trend in the report is that Nebraska ranked first in the country for the percent of children living with working parents. Among children ages 6 and younger, 73 percent of their mothers worked full time. Figures for fathers were not provided in the report.

"We have a lot of service-related jobs in the area that don't pay a lot," Reisig said. "It is assumed that people in poverty aren't working, but that isn't the case."
The report also found that young children living in households with "very low food security" are 61 percent more likely to be overweight than are young children living in "food secure" households.

"Despite the fact that we have such a high number of working families, we continue to see a high number of families struggling to put food on the table," Reisig said.

Reisig said type of jobs that come to the area will determine whether the number continues to rise in the future. To help families in poverty, programs in the area have been set up to help their immediate needs and to help them set goals to try to get out of poverty.