I came across a very interesting article in my search for something to write about for this blog. It is a story by David R. Jones. It appeared in the Gotham Gazette on August 10, 2006. The title is Single Mothers: Working, But Still Poor (http://www.gothamgazette.com/print/1931). In this article, Jones examines the plight of single working women who receive public assistance of some sort and receive pay raises at their jobs.
I was astonished to learn that, in 2005, the unemployment rate for single mothers in New York City was 41.3 percent. The median wage these women received was $ 11.25 per hour.
Jones tells us of Barbara Brooks, who was a single working mother. Brooks was making $ 8.25 per hour at her job and got a raise to $ 11.00 per hour. We would all think that sounded absolutely wonderful! However, this amounted to a monthly increase of $450. This increase in wages caused her to lose $ 600 per month in public assistance benefits. As Brooks herself puts it, she was “hustling backwards.”
Jones cited some recent research that showed the following about single mothers in New York City:
Approximately 80 percent of them had no employer-paid health insurance for themselves or their children.
Over one third of these mothers had to forego needed medical attention in the previous year because they could not afford it.
Fifty-three percent did not have any paid sick leave.
Sixty-one percent did not have any paid vacation.
They lost their access to public assistance, or at least a large part of it, as they obtained employment.
One thing very interesting is that this article states that many of the employed single mothers in New York City actually work for the city.
Measures being taken at the time of this article included the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which has since been implemented. The long term goal of EITC is to give much needed monies back to the working poor in the hope of raising them to where they are actually gaining ground instead of losing.
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This article seems to accurately reflect the crummy and often times non-existent work benefits of the working poor. The part about the woman losing her public assistance because she got a raise is very similar to Brittany, who we read about in the text. How can this be fair and when will it end?
ReplyDeleteIt seems so pointless when you read articles like the one you found in the Gotham Gazette. I find it very frustrating as a taxpayer that this is the best that can be done with our money. I honestly believe that is why most people cringe at the thought of new taxes--it's because of how the money will end up which is not taking care of those who need it the most. I mentioned in one of my blogs a documentary called A Day's Work, A day's Pay which highlighted what a joke the WEP program in New York was and the concept of "hustling backwards" as Ms. Brooks stated in your article. Getting paid ridiculous wages just to lose more than you gained and to top it all off many of these "city workers" in the WEP program were denied basic safety benefits and not provided the appropriate equipment for these jobs even violating federal standards. This is when ACORN stepped in and they finally got a few of these conditions changed. Unfortunately these work programs are taking place all over the country--required if a state wishes to receive federal block grant money for their programs.
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