Working poor target of initiative

from The Omaha World Herald

BY JOE RUFF
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Helping low-income workers make ends meet in Nebraska will create stronger families and businesses, said organizers of a statewide initiative announced Wednesday to study, increase awareness of and develop solutions to the problem.

"Working families in Nebraska should have the opportunity to not just get by, but get ahead," said Kathy Bigsby Moore, executive director of Voices for Children in Nebraska.

Cost-effective programs that companies can embrace — such as financial education in the workplace — will be one focus of "Opportunity at Work," a coalition of business, human service and nonprofit groups, said Shawn Macken, a financial adviser with Waddell & Reed Financial Services in Omaha.

Workers concentrating on their jobs instead of struggling to pay their bills will create more productive, profitable companies paying higher wages, Macken said.

The Opportunity at Work initiative grew out of the realization that many people who work hard still have trouble paying their bills, Moore said.

According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, 88 percent of low-income children in Nebraska have at least one working parent.

"For several years in a row, Nebraska has ranked number one in the United States for the number of children living with working parents, and yet our child poverty rate increased by 50 percent in five years," Moore said.

The coordinator of Opportunity at Work, Annemarie Bailey Fowler of Voices for Children, said the group wants to do research to better understand the problem of working people who struggle financially. Feasible, measurable solutions will be sought, including policy initiatives, Fowler said.

Macken's company has worked with United Way of the Midlands and the University of Nebraska at Omaha in a financial education package delivered at work sites, with employees and employers helping foot the cost. The program includes one-on-one financial counseling with participants about their budget, savings and investments.

Godfather's Pizza, Quality Living Inc. and Nebraska Furniture Mart in Omaha have offered the classes. Officials in those companies have said they were very effective.

The program brings what is taught in the classes directly into people's homes, influencing their behavior, said Jeanette Washington, manager of employee relations and diversity initiatives at Godfather's Pizza.

"Education without application is just knowledge," Washington said. Giving workers an opportunity to learn about finances and apply it to their lives is a key initiative, she said.

Workplace financial education could spread statewide as interest increases, organizers said.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Sherwood Foundation each gave $40,000 to help start Opportunity at Work. The money will help pay for a coordinator, research and public awareness.

Participating organizations in Opportunity at Work include Voices for Children and the Sherwood Foundation; the Financial Stability Partnership; and the Wellness Council of the Midlands. Others include Waddell & Reed Financial Services; First National Bank; Lincoln Action Program; the YWCA; Catholic Charities; Quality Living Inc.; Nebraska Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest; Godfather's Pizza Inc.; Family Housing Advisory Services; and Legal Aid of Nebraska.

World-Herald staff writer Erin Grace contributed to this report.