There was a news report that I came across that addressed the working poor women in Austin. This news report was labeled "Working Poor: Growing numbers can't make ends meet." The website that I received information from was www.news8austin.com. However, in this news report a woman by the name of Tere Ceballos addressed her financial and living situation. She stated in this news report that Austin was one of the highest cost of living compared to others cities in that state. When the economy declined that is when families in Austin started to struggle more than what they were struggling before. Tere Ceballos explained that she has a job however, it is still hard to make ends meet. She stated that her family did not have any food at their home therefore, they had to eat canned foods only. She could not afford "meats, fruits, baked foods, or cheese only canned foods."
Many families started to fall into poverty. Researchers at "The Center" noted that there were one out of six people in Texas that lived in poverty. Many of them worked, roughly about 80 percent and most of the income that poor families were receiving was from work and not assistance. Those living in Austin for one adult had to make about $19,000 a year and a family of four had to make about $44,000 a year in order to make it. More jobs were becoming available in Austin however, it was more low minimum wage jobs. These openings that were becoming available, which was minimum wage, would not be able to support families in Austin. In Austin it was reported that most working poor families are more likely to rely on earnings on their income rather than welfare. There should be something done due to the fact that Austin is a highly cost city and the jobs that are becoming available is minimum wage jobs. Funding should be increased for these families who are having difficulty and struggling.
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Tomisha,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this news article you located. I feel as though this is a great connection back to what we have been learning in this section of our class. Tere is the woman you identified from the article. How was the economy directly affecting her childcare needs for her children? I'm curious if she was struggling with some of the same issues you talked about such as securing adequate amounts of food for her family, prior to the recession.
You also discuss how in fact more jobs are becoming available in Austin, but these jobs are not paying enough. Chaudry discussed how the women in his study often secured low-wage paying jobs that did not provide many benefits, if any at all. How might the economic difficulties for those in Austin change if jobs paying more were available. Do you think the answer lies in women securing any job possible?
I agree with your statement that something needs to be done because the cost of living in Austin is higher than many other places in the country. What do you propose as a possible solution? Would allocating more money in a welfare program benefit working poor mothers in Austin?