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.