Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

One in three Nebraska families low-income

A new report from Nebraska Appleseed says 37 percent of low-income families have at least one parent without health insurance.

The report, released last week, looks at families, health insurance, and the workforce. It's based on Census data. According to the report, one in three Nebraska families are low-income.

James Goddard is Director of Economic Justice and Health Care Access Programs, and the report's author. He says there are three ways to help these families. One is to raise the minimum wage.

"The other is closing the coverage gap, where currently we have at least 54,000 individuals in Nebraska who really are unable to access health care because they can't afford it, and we can make that choice to close that coverage gap. And the third one is dealing with public assistance programs, to structure them so they're incentivizing work in a better way."

Among the initiatives on Tuesday's general election ballot is one to raise Nebraska's minimum wage.

The report also found that more than 77,000 Nebraskans 18 and older work more than one job.