(402) 597-3100
voices@voicesforchildren.com

Economic Stability

Impact of State Tax Changes on Children and Families

Collective investments in things like roads, schools, and parks are critical components of a thriving community.   These things wouldn’t be possible without revenue to make these investments and that revenue comes from taxes.  Many have seen or heard about the recent income tax cuts that Kansas has made, resulting…...

Read more

Significant Improvements Coming to Child Care Programs

Access to affordable quality child care is essential to both ensuring that children are prepared for school and allowing parents to work.  In Nebraska, the majority of children under the age of 6 have all available parents in the workforce.   This means that the majority of our kids are…...

Read more

Creating Opportunities for Families: A Two-Generation Approach

Last week, the Annie E. Casey Foundation released a policy report investigating ways to create opportunities for families – especially for those who are low-income. The report examines how low-income families with young children face extra barriers, like single parenting, difficulty speaking English, low education levels, lack of full-time employment,…...

Read more

Approval of Minimum Wage Increase a Victory for All Nebraskans

  It is clear that Nebraskans truly value both hard work and family. In yesterday’s election, Nebraskans voted to approve Initiative 425, which will increase the state minimum wage to $8/hr in 2015 and to $9/hr in 2016. The initiative received overwhelming bipartisan support, showing that Nebraskans believe that working…...

Read more

5 scary facts about Nebraska’s kids and families

In honor of Halloween, we are counting down a few of the scariest facts we could think of related to Nebraska’s kids and families. 5) 69% of children in Nebraska who are uninsured are low-income and should qualify for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, but are not enrolled. 4) 1 year…...

Read more

New Report Shows Progress and Needs on Child Care

Child care assistance helps ensure that kids are safe so parents can work. Ideally, our child care systems and programs should also help ensure that children are being prepared for K-12 education.  Last week, the National Women’s Law Center released a new report looking at state level policies for child…...

Read more

Putting Families First: How Paid Leave Helps Families Succeed

With the changing nature of the workforce, it’s getting more and more challenging to balance the demands of the jobs we need and the families we love. States around the country are starting to take the lead on establishing policies that promote more family-friendly workplaces and both businesses and families…...

Read more

Time to Move Forward with Child Care Update

The Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) is the most significant source of funding for providing child care assistance to working families to help ensure kids are safe so parents can work. For families with young children, child care has become the largest expense in the family budget and…...

Read more

Updated Child Poverty Estimates Released

Today, the U.S. Census Bureau released the 2013 American Community Survey results. This day, every year, always creates a buzz for data users and child advocates due to the release of the most up-to-date data on basic population....

Read more

2014 National Kids Count Series: Family and Community

Last month the Annie E. Casey Foundation released the 2014 KIDS COUNT Data Book highlighting state trends in child well-being and celebrating their 25th edition of the book by going back to 1990 and looking at changes in America’s children since then. Voices for Children in Nebraska is featuring a series on the data book…...

Read more