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Editorial
Rural residents find many ways to make a living
Friday, January 30, 2015
It's not surprising that a lot of people in rural Nebraska are farmers or have farm related jobs, but the self-employment trend is increasing, according to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's latest Nebraska Rural Poll.
It's a glass-half-full, glass-half-empty sort of situation.
On the one hand, people are finding a lot of different ways to make money in small towns. On the other, people are being forced to piece together a lot of different ways to make a living.
Latest data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis indicates self-employment is the fastest growing segment in rural counties -- and while the last recession didn't cost Nebraska that many jobs, it did accelerate the growth in the number of people who work for themselves.
Three-fourths of rural households had at least one person with a full-time job, but 43 percent got part of their income from self-employment.
Fifty eight percent of respondents who live in or near towns of under 500 had at least one self-employed person and, not surprisingly, 61 percent have a farm or ranch, 48 percent have a farm-related business and 11 percent provide a contract service to another company.
The number of jobs increases with the reliance on self-employment -- four in 10 employed Rural Nebraska households have multiple job-holding members, and of people in small towns, 500 to 999 people, that increases to 51 percent.
Ninety percent of rural Nebraskans say they rely on self-employment for basic needs, 28 percent say they are overqualified for their job and 18 percent of employed rural Nebraska housesholds have at least one member who telecommutes for at least one job -- only one of the ways technology has opened opportunities for anyone living anywhere.
Of course, economic development efforts in rural Nebraska should continue to work to attract large employers such as factories and processing plants, but we should also do everything we can to make it easier for the self-employed to make a living.
That includes making sure broadband Internet service is available, roads, transportation, mail service and other basic needs are met. That also means making sure bureaucratic red tape, especially new health insurance burdens, doesn't get in the way of responsible entrepreneurs.