Blog #7

Jacqueline and Julia faced many obstacles to find child care. Because of her minimum wage jobs she often had to switch child care arrangements in order to fit her rough schedule, variance in wages and the assistance that she received. She cycled through Father Care, Kin Care, Family Day Care and Day Care for months and often times had to take months off from work in between. She would gain availability to public assistance and then lose it again repetitively as she found work. She found the assistance to sometimes be unreliable and inconsistent causing her more trouble than necessary.

In Allen White’s case, he was working as a some-what custodian for approximately $9 per hour. He receives child support and 1 week of vacation each year. Although he does have these benefits, he still must live with his mother, 30 miles away from his place of employment. He brings up his frustration of being on medication, which is expensive enough to take away from other expenses he has. He has a 16 year old daughter who is living with him in the same situation. Though his daughter is older, he still has child care provided by his mother.

Iris Flores works two jobs, a school bus driver and as a custodian. She makes $10.89 per hour driving the bus and $8 per hour in her janitorial position. She has no sick days or vacation days and although she would like the health care and insurance offered by her employers, they are too expensive. This has cause her a recent problem when she got an upper respiratory infection and had to not only pay for her medical visits but also lose pay while out from work.

Delores McCoy worked in a janitorial position with a union for some time. Eventually the company she worked for was bought by new owners and the union was diminished. For the 18 months that the union did not exist she earned a mere $81 per week. Later the union was reestablished and she now makes $518 per week as well as has health care from Blue Cross/Blue Shield.
Erin has been working at a grocery store so that she can live closer to home, with her family. She works a 40hour/week job and still cannot save up enough to move out of her family home.

Mallory from Ohio also works a full time job at minimum wage. She lives with her mother and pays rent to her. After her bills are paid she has little money to spend on personal items, such as hair spray and is stuck in this cycle because she cannot even save up enough money to buy herself a vehicle.