I love, love, love the entitlement mentality.
A single mom in Omaha said she had to quit her job in order to preserve the child care subsidy she receives from the state of Nebraska.
Sandy Deason/Single Mom
Sandy Deason left her job after getting a raise that boosted her salary to $10.25. Her wages, plus commission, left her making too much money to qualify for subsidies to help pay for child care for her twins, Deanna and Braden.
Nebraska guidelines said Deason can't make more than $1,700 per month and still qualify for child care help. Keeping her job meant paying the full price of day care, roughly $500 per week. "There's no way I could balance both of them without any kind of day care help," Deason said. She said her only option was quitting the job.
Becky Gould of the Appleseed Center said Deason isn't alone." The number of families that have fallen into that gap has grown," said Gould. Nebraska's income limit for child care eligibility ranks last in the nation. Gould said the income limit leaves too many parents with no other choice. "They're going back on full public assistance and that's much more expensive for the state," she said.
Now unemployed, Deason collects food stamps, Medicaid and child care assistance while she searches for another job, one that pays less than her previous one. She said she has an interview in Kearney next week and will take any job that keeps her income low enough to qualify for child care."It's pretty much minimum wage up to $10," Deason said.
Nebraska lawmakers are considering a bill that would, among other things, raise the income limit. Health and Human Services officials said there'd be a bigger price to pay.The department said the bill would cost $9 million in the first fiscal year and twice that a year later. In testimony before lawmakers HHS's Todd Landry said that moving the eligibility level will require a sustained increase of money or force some families on a waiting list to get any help at all.Until something changes, the income gap will remain and keep Sandy Deason in a position where not having a job makes more economic sense than having one.
"Definitely, it benefits me a great deal to keep them in child care," Deason said.
