Thread: NE-Report: Immigrants' children fastest growing youth popula

Report: Immigrants' children fastest growing youth population in Nebraska
By ERIN ANDERSEN
Posted: Wednesday, January 13, 2010 1:00 am | (3) Comments

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Nearly one in eight Nebraska kids were born to immigrants in 2008 -- making them the state's fastest growing youth population.

But statistics find these kids face more barriers than children of U.S.-born parents, according to the 2009 Kids Count report released Wednesday.

Sixty-one percent of children born to immigrants live in poverty -- compared with 13.4 percent of Nebraska children as a whole.

On average, immigrant families earn $19,000 a year less than U.S.-born Nebraska families, said Annemarie Bailey Fowler of Voices for Children in Nebraska. The median annual income for Nebraskan families was $59,400 in 2007; it was $40,500 for immigrant families.

Immigrant families face these inequities across the nation. But here in Nebraska, the have and have-not differences of children born to foreign parents versus those born to lifelong U.S. residents are particularly glaring, Fowler said.

Left unaddressed, the nation's and Nebraska's long-term economy, work force, health, education and justice systems will suffer, Fowler said.

The annual Kids Count report compiles statistical data on the well-being of children in eight areas: education, health, nutrition, family economics, juvenile justice, child abuse and neglect, early childhood care/education and out-of-home/foster care.

Most data in the 2009 report rely on 2007 and 2008 statistics -- the latest available from the state -- reflecting life in the Cornhusker state prerecession.

Overall, the number of Nebraska children living in poverty is increasing.

In 2000, 10 percent of all Nebraska kids lived in poverty. As of 2008, 13.4 percent lived in poverty, and Fowler expects those numbers to climb for the 2010 Kids Count report.

Poverty is not just about money, but about lost opportunities, Fowler said.

"Economic insecurity and hardship are linked to numerous outcomes that limit the opportunities and future productivity of children," Fowler wrote in the report.

"Children in low-income families generally face elevated risks of low-quality child care, lack of adequate nutrition, unsafe neighborhoods, being uninsured, increased interaction with the juvenile justice system and exposure to environmental toxins.

"Allowing these risk factors to persist for the most rapidly growing segment of our state's population will lead to a less productive future work force for the state of Nebraska," Fowler wrote.

Of the state's 52,000 immigrant children, 85 percent are U.S. citizens, according to Kids Count. But nearly half (48 percent) live with parents who are not U.S. citizens.

Whereas single-parent homes are often the single biggest indicator among all low-income families, the majority of immigrant children live with two parent homes where at least one parent is working full-time, the report states.

The lack of English skills and lack of education through high school prevents many immigrant parents from attaining better-paying jobs, said Mark Mather, vice president of domestic programs at the Population Reference Bureau in Washington, D.C.

He said the four highest factors for children of immigrants are having parents who:

•Are not proficient in English
•Are not U.S. citizens
•Have a ninth-grade education or less
•Have not lived in the U.S. for a long time
Among immigrant children whose parents had none of these risk factors, the poverty rate was 9 percent, Mather said.

In contrast, the poverty rate was 47 percent for kids whose parents had all four risk factors.

Nebraska statistics echo that trend.

According to Kids Count, 64 percent of immigrant children live with parents who have difficulty speaking English; and 40 percent live with parents of whom neither have ever received a high school diploma -- compared with 4 percent of children in U.S.-born families.

Nebraska needs a multifaceted approach to help all families overcome the insidious barriers erected by poverty, Fowler said.

"Since the well-being of children is determined by the well-being of their parents, unfavorable conditions of parents undermine children's potential to become healthy and productive members of the community," she wrote in the report.

Reach Erin Andersen at eandersen@journalstar.com.


Posted in Local, Nebraska on Wednesday, January 13, 2010 1:00 am Updated: 9:28 pm. | Tags: Education



http://journalstar.com/news/local/artic ... 002e0.html

It is becoming increasingly urgent that we clarify the 14th Amendment, and dispel the misinterpretation that has run rampant for the last 35-40 years.

MORE Wealth Redistribution is needed, lol

I can think of many American families that would like to earn $40,500 a year. EVerify NOW!!!

Nebraska needs a multifaceted approach to help all families overcome the insidious barriers erected by poverty, Fowler said.

"Since the well-being of children is determined by the well-being of their parents, unfavorable conditions of parents undermine children's potential to become healthy and productive members of the community," she wrote in the report.

BULL! If you live in poverty, you have NO business having kids. We need to stop enabling illiterate, unskilled illegal aliens from thinking it's OK to saddle us with paying them to drop anchor babies at alarming rates!! They wouldn't have as many kids in their own countries, because they know they would not be able to support them!

WE are stupid