Blog # 11 - Working Poor Women’s Unpaid Labor

I found a few video’s on YouTube that were stories about women in a working poor situation that were very sad. The one video that absolutely broke my heart was a story about a single African America mother, who had six children. The biggest struggle for this family, and the mothers biggest heart ache was keeping her family together under one roof. In this story, the mother had three boys and three girls and they were forced to live separately for durations of time because it was hard to find shelters to take in a family of seven. The mother and the three girls found refuge at a women’s shelter however her three sons were forced to find shelter elsewhere. The oldest son was able to stay in a church, the middle son slept in a vehicle, and the youngest son stayed with his friend during the time that his mother and sisters were in the women’s shelter. This family’s struggle began when the children’s father died and there was continuous downward cycle.

Stories like this one are very common when it comes to working poor mothers and mothers living in poverty. The everyday struggles that these women face include providing food for their families, which in many of these stories, mothers did not eat some meals to ensure their children had enough food to eat. Another major struggle for these women is securing transportation for them to get to and from work as well as taking their children to and from school or childcare. Other concerns are making sure that their work schedules fit to their childcare arrangements or making sure childcare arrangements fit their work schedules. Due to the welfare reform these women have to make sacrifices in taking jobs and taking less pay just to ensure they have a job to receive the benefits they need from the government.

This is the link to the story in my post:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAA9-QzRzf8&feature=related

Blog # 10 - Working Poor Women’s Unpaid Labor

The welfare reform was signed by President Clinton in 1996. Another term for the reform is the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. This reform forced those on welfare to work for their welfare checks which resulted in more single mothers returning to work. During the time that the reform was passed it seemed that there were many positive effects. For example, according to NPR news reports, the reform gave women a positive incentive to work hard for their aid which also resulted in them having more income. This also had a positive effect on the children of working mothers, because by them seeing their mothers going to work every day and working to support the family, made the children themselves set higher goals for themselves. This seemed like a quick fix to the problems of mothers on welfare and it seemed to work in the beginning but then everything else set in. These women who are working because of this reform are forced to pay for childcare because they had to now work. These women are also forced to pay for the transportation to get to work and to get their children to their care, as well as paying for the clothing for their jobs. This has resulted in many women working hard for what they have, but at the end of the day, their pay still does not cover the costs, so life for them has not really improved based on this reform. In later years preceding the reform, the number of those enrolled in welfare programs has decreased; however those enrolled in Medicare programs, disability programs, and food stamps programs has increased. This proves that just because many people came off welfare aid does not mean that they came off government aid entirely.


According to Chaudry, after the welfare reform that was passed by Clinton, many working mothers had to adapt survival strategies. Whether these so called “strategies” should be considered strategies, women definitely had to adapt to new situations. Chaudry explains that two major adaption’s that women had to face once the welfare reform was put in play, was either arranging their childcare around their work schedules or arranging their work schedules around their childcare arrangements. An example of this would be the story of Sara and Cristina in Chaurdry’s book, Putting Children First. Sara is a young mother who was very persistent in continuing her education while being a single mother. She had many hardships being that she is from a different country and had to adapt to the social norms of America. She first lived with her mother after coming to America however that arrangement did not work because they did not get along. Sara decided that she did not want to raise her daughter being subjected to the psychological turmoil that the mother would place on them. Her first option of childcare was a neighbor who Sara and Cristina later moved in with; however that went bad after the neighbor asked Sara to give up Cristina. This caused major tension for Sara because during the time of the transition Sara was afraid the neighbor would steal Cristina. Once Sara was out on her own she had to apply for welfare in order to live in a shelter. Many women like Sara were forced to make sacrifices during this time of the reform. Some women were forced to leave their children in unsafe environments because they needed to work to keep their welfare benefits. The welfare reform forced women to make themselves more flexible with job positions and childcare arrangements. Women spend so much extra time trying to locate affordable childcare as well as securing jobs to pay for the childcare.

I agree with Chaudry that America as a whole needs to decide what role we want to play in the lives of children. If we provided more available care options for families with infants, I think that poverty rates would go down. For many families, a new infant is a big expense and during this time is where families are forced to drop to one income as a result of the needed childcare for the infant. A second investment that I feel that Americans should invest in is making educational development for young children. We should have not only the pre-k and head start programs available but more for younger children as well. Also if we improved the access of childcare, it would be easier for mothers to return to work after having children which would result in more income for the family as well. By Americans being more proactive for a better life for all children, I personally think less children would grow up to be criminals and the children would grow up with more opportunities.

Blog # 9 - Working Poor Women’s Unpaid Labor

I personally feel that conditions faced by working poor women and those faced by children in poverty are much the same. I feel this way because many of the working poor women are the mothers of these children in poverty. In both states, there is constant food insecurity, there is a lack of affordable housing, and there is a lack in available insurance. According to NCCP there is nearly 13 million American children living in poverty which amounts to about eighteen percent. This number continues to grow as our economy gets worse and the cycle continues. Children who are born into poverty are often forced to stay in poverty throughout their lives due to lack of opportunities and lack of education. Much like urban poverty, these children grow up with poor education and often barely receive a high school diploma or GED. There is generally no form of higher education due to the fact of them becoming parents or having to help support the family they grew up in.

There are other factors that play a role in the children in poverty. According to NCCP, poverty among children is the most prevalent within African Americans, Latinos, and American Indians. This could be a result of these groups having fewer opportunities than other groups in America. Another influence on child poverty is the generation they are born into. Those children with immigrant parents are more likely to be in a state of poverty than those children whose parents are not immigrants.

Many of the parents of children who are in poverty are working hard but just cannot seem to keep their heads above water. For example, in the news post story from NPR about Annice and Edwin Greene, they are fighting hard to try and make it on their own. These types of situations make it very difficult to accept the stereotype that those who use welfare or those who are poor are lazy. I agree with Chaudry in the recommendations to help with child poverty. I think that there should be increased funding for childcare programs and being that single parent homes are becoming more mainstream, I feel there should be more aid, or even just more of an understanding for those in that position. I feel that the government should create more opportunities for people in these situations to allow them to get back on their feet and out of poverty.

Blog # 8 - Urban Poverty

There is a phenomenon of urban poverty which is different than poverty within the city. Urban poverty is similar to working poor and inner city poverty because those everyday struggles with income, and childcare are still prevalent; however urban poverty has a different list of concerns as well. According to Chaudry in Putting Children First, there are two primary factors that lead to the problems of families in urban areas. These factors are: “the decline in urban labor markets and the out-migration of better-employed residents” (Chaudry, 2004, p.128). Also, according to Chaudry there are many other factors that have an effect on poverty, one main one is being jobless. This occurs due to loss of businesses and basic services that create job opportunities for working families. It has become a trend that male unemployment and incarcerations have increased in urban areas, which leaves many families to be lead by single mothers who are dependent on welfare. Due to these conditions and lack of transportation, these urban areas are becoming more and more excluded from larger cities. This exclusion is a huge concern because jobs are scarce in urban areas and there are poorly functioning public facilities such as school that do not ensure positive learning or hospitals that do not ensure proper healthcare.

The high levels of crime are also a major problem in urban poverty. Single mothers are forced to worry about their safety and the safety of their children because there are high levels of crime and violence. In these areas there is also an increase in drug consumption, drug abuse, and drug trafficking which makes these areas unsafe for families. As cited in Chaudry, Peter Marcuse calls urban poverty areas, “outcast ghetto’s”. He explains that, “people living in the outcast ghetto are removed from the dominant society both physically and economically” (Chaudry, 2004, p.129). These issues alone are very problematic; however single mothers in urban poverty also share the same struggles with childcare as working poor mothers. These children are bounced between childcare arrangements, which negatively affect a child’s development. This type poverty also is repeated in a cycle similar to working poor families. Children are more likely to drop out of school to try and help support their families and more girls will get pregnant younger, which will keep them in the poverty state that they grew up in.

The only way these cycles will change is if more people take initiative to help those in need, however with the economy issues we are having I think everyone is struggling to get by.

Blog # 7 - Working Poor Women's Paid Labor

Many women who have to raise children on their own have many struggles, and finding childcare is one of the major struggles they face. In the text Putting Children First, Julia a single mother of three daughters describes her struggles with childcare after her third daughter, Jacqueline, were born. Her childcare troubles began when her daughter was born. Jacqueline’s father took care of her for a short while during the time Julia was trying to get her GED. Then, when he was incapable of caring for his child she had to find an alternative source of childcare. She needed assistance but because she was not working she was not a priority. The reason that she could not work was because she did not have dependable childcare. When she finally got the assistance she desperately needed, the assistance was inconsistence and gave her more troubles. The childcare that accepted the government assistance facility, where Jacqueline was staying, needed to be paid every week; however the assistance only paid every other week. This caused payment issues and Julia was forced seek childcare elsewhere. This was another burden on Julia, because she again had to compromise her work to ensure she could be home with her daughter when childcare was not available.
The sad part is Julia’s story is similar to many single mothers trying to support their families. For example, in the video with Jessica, she describes how she has been forced to work minimum wage her whole life because of the cycle. She works minimum wage jobs because she is a student trying to make it. She explains how there are some nights she does not eat to ensure that her children have enough food to eat. Minimum wage jobs generally do not have healthcare or childcare benefits. This can be problematic because those are extra expenses that put single mothers farther behind by having to pay out of pocket for those things. Also, minimum wage jobs are hourly pay, so when something comes up where the mother needs to take off work, then she does not get paid for that time off. Jessica describes how everyday is a constant battle, which describes how many mothers in this position feel. In the stories with Erin and Mallory there are also common themes in the struggle of childcare and the cycle of not being able to get ahead.

Blog # 6- Cost of Childcare

According to our text Putting Children First there are several types of child care arrangements that are used by working single mothers. There are several factors that go into deciding these child care arrangements. These decisions are “based on their contextual situations, the particular kinds of care available to them, and the interaction of these options with their work needs” (p. 35). There are four major childcare arrangements that include: home-based individual care, family care in the caregiver’s home, center care, and other settings. Home-based care would include, father care, older sibling care, a paid nanny or sitter in the child’s home, or close family or friends that provide care in the home. Family day care would consist of care in a person’s home who is licensed. Center care generally includes professional care in a community setting such as nursery programs, head start or early head start or pre- k programs. Lastly, other settings would include mothers care while working, specialized care or daycare in shelters, hospitals, or other specialized service institutions.

According to the text, child care arrangements are generally second best, but they are generally not the first option that mothers would choose. For reasons such as cost and availability, plus work schedules are restraints that would make women choose a second rate child care. In one of the videos titled Childcare Struggles, it explains how the family has to wait until the children are in school to have more, due to the high cost of childcare. They as a family were not able to afford to send multiple children to daycare, which meant they had to change their family planning. The constraints on child care concern families because their child’s development can be compromised. When a child is placed in secondary care a child may not develop was well as other children in professional care. A second problem that arises with child care for low income families is when the arrangement is ended. This can also cause a disruption in the child’s development because they do not have a stable arrangement. Situations like this one are explained in chapter 2 of Putting Children First. In the story of Brittany and Bethany, they explain the struggles in their child care arrangements and how Bethany was moved from arrangement to arrangement. This story is not unique, and the sad thing is many single mothers go through the same struggles.

Blog #5 - Identifying the Working Poor

Both the book and the videos discuss how there is a cycle that seems impossible to get out of. This cycle happens because the working poor people are working pay check to pay check to try and get by and when something unexpected happens such as a vehicle breaking down, or a sick child, these things put the working poor families further and further behind. This cycle is where those who are least fortunate are the ones that have to work harder. Many people in poverty and in the working poor class struggle to make ends meet because they work minimum wage jobs and many minimum wage jobs are not full time or offer benefits. Many people in these situations have two or three minimum wage jobs instead of one good job which forces them to work harder than the people who work for big corporations or have high salary jobs. The working poor people work harder because they have to constantly juggle childcare, food, clothing, and just basic necessities in general. During the video, the people generally define the working poor as those who are working minimum wage jobs, who are living pay check to pay check but are still struggling to meet their basic needs.

In the video that defines the poverty lines, it states there is one in eight Americans who is below the poverty line. These people who are considered poverty can receive aid from the government however the aid is never enough to help people out of poverty. The aid that is provided is only enough to keep them in their state of poverty. Also, another video in our course material describes a class between the middle class and working poor. This class is called the near poor which can be considered one of the largest classes in our nation. In this class, the video explains how debt is a big problem because many people in this class are not poor enough to receive government aid, but they do not make enough on their own to get by. This forces people to apply for credit cards or loans, which can get people into more and more debt.

I work for a debt settlement company and this near poor class is where most of our clients are. These clients struggle to meet ends meet, so they apply for a credit card to by gas or food, then they make the minimum payment and with interest and fee’s the balances double. Then because that card is at the max, they are forced to open another card, and the whole thing snowballs. Then when they are out of options, something else goes wrong and they can no longer even make minimum payments. Within this class, debt is not the only problem, but healthcare as well. Many of the people in this class make to much money to qualify for free healthcare, but they do not work good enough jobs that have benefits for them or their families. Insurance can be a huge expense that forces people to go without it in order to afford other necessities such as food, rent, or clothing.

These three classes are definitely a big amount of Americans however there seems to be solution for helping these classes reach a higher status.