Unit B - Blog 9

Working poor women face the same obstacles that middle class mothers face such as childcare, food, bills, and all the little extras that children require. However, working poor women are constantly faced with the worry about money. Day in and out they are concerned about where the next meal is going to come from or the next pair of shoes after the last ones wear out. In one of the videos, a mother is taking her 4 kids to the park where the Red Cross hands out free lunches for the community. The mother lost her job a couple months ago and the father lost his job 8 months ago and took a job that pays much less. Their family car does not run so they have no vehicle and no money to fix it. No matter how old the kids are, they can understand that something has changed in their family dynamic. They will recognize that they don't have a car anymore and that they are getting lunches from other people outside their family and school. Kids are also very receptive to stress within their families. They will react to their mothers being more tired and less focused on normal activities. Working poor women are humans too; they don't have super human powers to live above the stresses of being a mother and being an employee. It is for this reason that wages have to start matching the rising costs of food. Poverty levels in the U.S. reflect an outdated system where food, housing, and clothing are given a proportionate amount in a families' budget. However, today housing and food far outweigh the costs of clothing and therefore budgets are skewed and inflation is unaccounted for.