For another class, Cinema and Justice, I was required to watch “Norma Rae” starring Sally Field. This movie touched on numerous issues of justice, among those were women’s rights and one woman’s struggle to work, care for her kids, and still stand up for what she believed in. The film is about Norma Rae, a single mother with two children from two different fathers who works in a local factory. While the story is mainly about the struggle to establish a union for the textile workers, there are many underlying issues that address her struggle as a low income working mother. Norma Rae has no steady father figure for her children. She works constantly for extremely low wages and in awful working conditions. She lives in a society that is dominated by white males and has to prove herself as a strong person because she is a woman. Norma Rae is often stressed out and exhausted throughout the film because she is constantly juggling various responsibilities. From taking care of her children, to her eventual husband, to working, and to establishing a union, Norma Rae truly represents a woman’s struggle to balance work and home life. In one scene, her husband screams at her for not doing the cooking, cleaning, and tending to his sexual “needs”. In this scene however, Norma Rae screams back and basically just “cracks” and her husband and the audience realize how stressed out this woman is with her juggling act.
I think this movie adequately represents the daily life of a working woman, even if not all of them are attempting to start unions. There are always numerous stresses and responsibilities of a working mother that seem to leave them with very little time to actually rest or enjoy themselves. While I watched this film, I do remember thinking how unfair it is that on top of working, women are also bombarded with all of the household responsibilities. They are either expected to do it by their husbands and society, or they feel guilted into doing it because of society’s message that they are a woman’s chores and responsibility. I thought about what was discussed in previous blogs and how women are juggling far more responsibilities than men, because when they get home from work there is plenty more waiting for them inside the home. In the women’s stories in “Putting Children First”, you can tell that these woman feel the strain of these similar everyday struggles.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Blog #9
The National Center for Children outlines the various poverty levels of children in the United States. There are currently 13 million American families below the poverty line. There has been an 11 percent increase between 2000 and 2005 of children living in poverty. The official poverty line is a yearly income of $20,000.00 for a family of four. A low income family is considered a family of four earning $40,000.00 annually. This official poverty level is obviously flawed, as we have seen through Chaudry’s book and other evidence that it is impossible for a family of four to live realistically off of these low wages. Nationwide 18 percent of children are living in families that are considered poor. The state with the highest child poverty rate is Mississippi with 27 percent. Arizona falls into the 20 percent or more category on the provided chart. Child poverty is especially prevalent in black, latinos, and American Indians. Black children have the highest poverty level at 35 percent while white children are at 10 percent. In addition, the statistics point out that having immigrant parents increases chances of being poor.
The National Center for Children lists the economic hardships that are faced by children in poverty which include: lack of affordable housing, lack of health insurance, food insecurity, and other economic hardships. These conditions have a direct relationship between children and a working, poor woman. Both women and children alike experience this lack of security. If a mother cannot adequately provide for her family, no matter how hard she tries, her children will also live in poverty. A working mother cannot often make ends meet and has to constantly struggle from paycheck to paycheck. It is a viscous cycle of never being able to get ahead in life. Children who grow up in poverty do not receive as good an education as other children and it is much more difficult for them to move up out of their “class”. The National Center for Children in describing the hardships faced by children, is also describing the hardships of all people who are considered the “working poor”.
The National Center for Children lists the economic hardships that are faced by children in poverty which include: lack of affordable housing, lack of health insurance, food insecurity, and other economic hardships. These conditions have a direct relationship between children and a working, poor woman. Both women and children alike experience this lack of security. If a mother cannot adequately provide for her family, no matter how hard she tries, her children will also live in poverty. A working mother cannot often make ends meet and has to constantly struggle from paycheck to paycheck. It is a viscous cycle of never being able to get ahead in life. Children who grow up in poverty do not receive as good an education as other children and it is much more difficult for them to move up out of their “class”. The National Center for Children in describing the hardships faced by children, is also describing the hardships of all people who are considered the “working poor”.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Blog #8
Urban poverty includes joblessness, decrease in real estate and an increase in abandonment, and loss of legitimate enterprise. More males are in jail which mean more women need to work and provide for their children and are often forced to use welfare resources. The school systems in areas of urban poverty are very poor and do not offer high levels of education. The consequences of urban poverty include violence, self-medication through drug use, increased isolation and dim hope. These consequences strongly affect single mothers because it seems as if it is simply impossible for them to rise out of their economic situations. They lack the resources, support, and education that it takes to actually better their lives. The children of these mother’s are negatively affected by the lack of a positive male role model in their lives and often mother’s experience worries that their children are going to become pregnant, violent, or drug users. In chapter four of “Putting Children First”, Traci experienced the absence of her children’s father when he was incarcerated twice for drug related charges. Traci actually thanks God that he did sell drugs because she says that if he had not, her family would likely not have survived without the drug money income. However, she does not want him to get involved with drugs again because she use to worry about the safety of her family. Traci wishes that her children will not live the same life that she has had to. Traci expresses guilt that she wishes she would have gotten married before having kids or gone to college.
Poor women living in mixed income neighborhoods face less concerns than those living in urban poverty. The crime rate in a mixed income neighborhood is likely going to be less and the school systems better. In a mixed income neighborhood, characteristics suck as drug use and violence are going to be less prevalent.
Poor women living in mixed income neighborhoods face less concerns than those living in urban poverty. The crime rate in a mixed income neighborhood is likely going to be less and the school systems better. In a mixed income neighborhood, characteristics suck as drug use and violence are going to be less prevalent.
Blog #7
Julia and Jacqueline’s struggle to find quality healthcare is described in chapter 3 of Chaudry. Julia did not have the father involved very much in the life of Jacqueline. He did watch Jacqueline for awhile in the beginning, while Julia attended community college but then he left and eventually ended up in jail in New Jersey. Julia had to stay home during this time. Factors that contributed to Julia’s obstacles in obtaining child care include: lack of education, lack of work, discrepancies in welfare and other government programs, and a poor family life. Julia did not have a mother or family members who she could count on to watch her child. Her sister was able to provide care for awhile but that stopped when her sister had to get a job. Jacqueline stayed in a family home care environment for awhile, where she was looked after properly and enjoyed the environment. Julia experienced problems with her welfare. They were late with payments to the providers and on one occasion lost her paperwork. Julia had to alter her work schedule when she got hired full-time and this affected the current care she was receivin. Julia was dropped from her public assistance and because of this she no longer received food stamps or housing assistance and with the added expenses and she was forced to take Jacqueline out of the home care situation that Jacqueline so enjoyed. Chaudry points out that it was when Julia was provided with good child care that she was able to move up in the work world and improve her life. When her child care situation became difficult, she faced more struggle in her work life. Chaudry concludes that having good child care leads to an improved lifestyle and improved overall work situations.
Minimum wage jobs add to a poor woman’s ability to find and maintain stable and safe childcare and career improvements because it is extremely difficult to actually get ahead in a minimum wage job. The video, “American Low Wage Worker’s Tour”, describes how minimum wage jobs usually do not offer health insurance. Woman in minimum wage jobs usually live paycheck to paycheck and have to sacrifice certain necessities to provide for other ones. Child care is very expensive and if you only work a minimum wage job it is nearly impossible to afford decent childcare. Because of this, woman have to resort to less reliable sources of childcare such as an untrustworthy family member or a sketchy babysitter. Child care subsidies are difficult to receive and still do not cover all the costs. In a minimum wage job, it seems nearly impossible for a single woman to find and maintain stable and safe childcare, which makes it virtually impossible for them to improve in their careers.
Minimum wage jobs add to a poor woman’s ability to find and maintain stable and safe childcare and career improvements because it is extremely difficult to actually get ahead in a minimum wage job. The video, “American Low Wage Worker’s Tour”, describes how minimum wage jobs usually do not offer health insurance. Woman in minimum wage jobs usually live paycheck to paycheck and have to sacrifice certain necessities to provide for other ones. Child care is very expensive and if you only work a minimum wage job it is nearly impossible to afford decent childcare. Because of this, woman have to resort to less reliable sources of childcare such as an untrustworthy family member or a sketchy babysitter. Child care subsidies are difficult to receive and still do not cover all the costs. In a minimum wage job, it seems nearly impossible for a single woman to find and maintain stable and safe childcare, which makes it virtually impossible for them to improve in their careers.
Interview
I will be interviewing my mother for this assignment. I chose to interview my mother because she has always worked ever since she had kids. She was a mother at a young age of 21 and raised four children total. In order to make ends meet, she established her own business. She has always worked so hard for my entire life in order to provide for my siblings and myself and I have the utmost respect for her as a person. She has always encouraged us to be the best we can be and has always stressed the importance of having a good education. I am interviewing her because I think she provide excellent insight regarding the experiences of a working mother since she has done it for over 25 years. She has used various types of child care in order to be able to work and I think it is good to have opinions on various types of child care. I have basically used the model in Appendix C to form my interview questions.
Blog # 6 - Cost of Child Care
In Chapter two of “Putting Children First”, Chaudry describes a variety of child care options available to mothers. The chapter begins with the story of Brittany and Bethany and the struggle Brittany faced in finding consistent and constructive child care for Bethany. Bethany tried various methods of child care including kin care, work care, and family day care. The stories supplemented by single mothers in this chapter outline the pros and cons of the types of care made available for their children.
Kin care is the type of care where a family member watches the child while the parent works. Some mothers, such as Harriet, prefer kin care because they feel they can have complete trust in the person watching their child. Kin care is cheap and usually convenient. However, kin care is often short term and does not provide the structure and educational opportunities that other types of care provide. Family day care is a day care inside of a person’s home, with one care provider who watches over many different children. This is a licensed and subsidized form of care and consists of wide variations since the providers are all different. A major con of this type of care is that there are no learning opportunities. Center care is preferred by many mothers, even though there are differences as to when it is best to put the child in center care. Center care is beneficial for the child because it offers structure and learning opportunities. However, center care is much harder to arrange than kin or family care. In Edwina’s story, she had to lie to get her child into a center because the centers in her neighborhood had extensive waiting lists of around 500 children. Other care arrangements include father care, special needs care, and mother’s care while working. The Applied Research Center website provides substantial evidence regarding childcare. For instance, the amount of licensed centers has significantly decreased since 2000 while the amount of unlicensed centers has increased. Many mothers would prefer a certain type of childcare but simply cannot afford or attain it due to affordability, long waiting lists, insufficient subsidies, etc. However it appears that the majority of mothers' ideal child care is one in which their children are placed in structured and educational environments.
Many people are striving to improve child care conditions, such as Congresswoman Schroeder, who in her National Family Policy would like to acquire benefits for part-time workers and abolish unfair wages, meaning that men are still getting paid more than women in the same positions. Also, many care centers are created to make affordable care available and provide many opportunities for the children. In the “California Child Care Crisis News Coverage” video, one day care center is interviewed and while it cares for many children, the center remains a positive environment in their lives.
Kin care is the type of care where a family member watches the child while the parent works. Some mothers, such as Harriet, prefer kin care because they feel they can have complete trust in the person watching their child. Kin care is cheap and usually convenient. However, kin care is often short term and does not provide the structure and educational opportunities that other types of care provide. Family day care is a day care inside of a person’s home, with one care provider who watches over many different children. This is a licensed and subsidized form of care and consists of wide variations since the providers are all different. A major con of this type of care is that there are no learning opportunities. Center care is preferred by many mothers, even though there are differences as to when it is best to put the child in center care. Center care is beneficial for the child because it offers structure and learning opportunities. However, center care is much harder to arrange than kin or family care. In Edwina’s story, she had to lie to get her child into a center because the centers in her neighborhood had extensive waiting lists of around 500 children. Other care arrangements include father care, special needs care, and mother’s care while working. The Applied Research Center website provides substantial evidence regarding childcare. For instance, the amount of licensed centers has significantly decreased since 2000 while the amount of unlicensed centers has increased. Many mothers would prefer a certain type of childcare but simply cannot afford or attain it due to affordability, long waiting lists, insufficient subsidies, etc. However it appears that the majority of mothers' ideal child care is one in which their children are placed in structured and educational environments.
Many people are striving to improve child care conditions, such as Congresswoman Schroeder, who in her National Family Policy would like to acquire benefits for part-time workers and abolish unfair wages, meaning that men are still getting paid more than women in the same positions. Also, many care centers are created to make affordable care available and provide many opportunities for the children. In the “California Child Care Crisis News Coverage” video, one day care center is interviewed and while it cares for many children, the center remains a positive environment in their lives.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Blog #5
Chaudry makes the argument that “we are asking the less fortunate to strive and work harder, we are deeply discounting our public responsibility for the children born into poor families and disadvantaged communities” because of politics on welfare reform. Chaudry writes that since the government stressed that work is the way to rise out of poverty, it has actually created a variety of obstacles. Among these obstacles is finding affordable child care. In Chaudry’s story of Annette and her son Aaron, Annette has much difficulty in finding quality and affordable child care for her infant son while she struggles to work two part-time jobs. In Chapter One of “Putting Children First”, Chaudry emphasizes the inconsistency with child care among the working poor and the flaws of subsidies for child care. Annette received child care subsidies from one of her employers, yet she still had to use some of her own money to compensate for the leftover amount. It is difficult for the working poor to find child care at an affordable price where their children will also be encouraged to learn. I think that this discounts our responsibility toward children born into poor families because they are provided with fewer advantages from the start of their lives.
The video clips support Chaudry’s argument because they also discuss the inconsistencies of child care among the working poor. For instance, in “Living with a Hole in your Pocket”, the people discuss the “viscous cycle” of living paycheck to paycheck and never really getting ahead. These working poor are not able to save money for their children’s education, or even afford health or life insurance. In the “Working Poor” video, various individuals describe the working poor as people who earn a wage but still do not earn enough money to subsist at a higher level. In “Poverty in America”, we learn that 37 million people are living below the poverty line. According to the government, the poverty line equals a family of four earning less than $20,614.00 but the cost breakdown of living provided in the video proves that it is essentially impossible for any family of four to live comfortably on this income. Professor Katherine Newman draws attention to the fact that the close to poverty poor people are often not even considered in policy making agendas. Many of the close to poverty poor have been able to rise above the poverty line through acquiring debt, yet they still can not often even afford health insurance.
While I feel that these are extremely serious issues that deserve attention, I am still hesitant to say that more federal or state aid is the answer. I think many factors come into play when considering these situations. I do not believe that people should have children if they do not have the means to support them. I think Annette should have given her baby up for adoption rather than raising him in an unhealthy environment. I do believe that mothers like Annette need to take personal responsibility for their actions and if you choose to bring a baby into the world that you cannot actually afford to take care of, than there are certain consequences you will obviously have to face, and extreme struggle is among those consequences. Planned Parenthood offers extremely cheap birth control and free condoms and I believe that if you are irresponsible enough to get pregnant by some deadbeat than you must realize that you are going to have to seriously work hard to provide for your children. I think it would be nice if everyone had healthcare so that children would not have to suffer due to the status and choices of their parents. I think it would be great if more companies had an incentive to provide free or extremely cheap child care to their employees. These children are born into situations that they cannot control and it is unfortunate that because their mothers have to work so hard to provide for them, that they are not given the same advantages of children in the middle and upper classes.
The video clips support Chaudry’s argument because they also discuss the inconsistencies of child care among the working poor. For instance, in “Living with a Hole in your Pocket”, the people discuss the “viscous cycle” of living paycheck to paycheck and never really getting ahead. These working poor are not able to save money for their children’s education, or even afford health or life insurance. In the “Working Poor” video, various individuals describe the working poor as people who earn a wage but still do not earn enough money to subsist at a higher level. In “Poverty in America”, we learn that 37 million people are living below the poverty line. According to the government, the poverty line equals a family of four earning less than $20,614.00 but the cost breakdown of living provided in the video proves that it is essentially impossible for any family of four to live comfortably on this income. Professor Katherine Newman draws attention to the fact that the close to poverty poor people are often not even considered in policy making agendas. Many of the close to poverty poor have been able to rise above the poverty line through acquiring debt, yet they still can not often even afford health insurance.
While I feel that these are extremely serious issues that deserve attention, I am still hesitant to say that more federal or state aid is the answer. I think many factors come into play when considering these situations. I do not believe that people should have children if they do not have the means to support them. I think Annette should have given her baby up for adoption rather than raising him in an unhealthy environment. I do believe that mothers like Annette need to take personal responsibility for their actions and if you choose to bring a baby into the world that you cannot actually afford to take care of, than there are certain consequences you will obviously have to face, and extreme struggle is among those consequences. Planned Parenthood offers extremely cheap birth control and free condoms and I believe that if you are irresponsible enough to get pregnant by some deadbeat than you must realize that you are going to have to seriously work hard to provide for your children. I think it would be nice if everyone had healthcare so that children would not have to suffer due to the status and choices of their parents. I think it would be great if more companies had an incentive to provide free or extremely cheap child care to their employees. These children are born into situations that they cannot control and it is unfortunate that because their mothers have to work so hard to provide for them, that they are not given the same advantages of children in the middle and upper classes.
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