Blog #11

http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080817/NEWS/808170327

This article is the exact example shown throughout Chaudry’s arguments. It is about how a working mother found irony when told by a government employee that it may be easier to feed her family if she quit her second job.

One of the people in this article, Buck, is a single parent to six children. She earns too much money to qualify for food stamps. Her first job she uses just to cover her rent and her day care. The rest is for supplies and food. Her food pantry has seen a 64% increase in clients during the first six months of 2008 compared to the same time in 2007.

The article talks about how the working poor are getting hit the hardest because many “do not qualify for food stamps. People are also now beginning to make choices between “basic needs such as rent, food and medical care”.
The amount of food stamps given to a needy family is not substantial to the rising cost of food.

“Nutritious foods, like fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, dairy and meat are more expensive than many processed foods, so families whose budgets are being squeezed by escalating prices are forced to cut out many of those items, Albert said.”

Poor working women, of course are among the most impacted. They must work day in and day out to afford rent, child care, household necessities and whatever health care is available. Now they are being faced with keeping a close eye on not being paid a dollar more than what will qualify them for public assistance. If this is impacting the food that they eat, it is even more so impact the type of child care they use. When is comes to choosing between gas for the care and keeping the lights on, it is easy to see why many women resort to unlicensed care which may be cheaper than licensed care, as well as kin care, which has proven unreliable and typically not a permanent care option.