The Working Poor

Young Sun

The Working Poor

           

           I used to think that being poor was when my dad told me we couldn’t afford to spend more money on my wardrobe. Now I see that that is not even remotely close to the definition of being poor. That is considered lucky and those of us, who are lucky enough, to afford what we think of as basic necessities, should be grateful for what we have. There are families out there with kids that are the same age as us but can’t afford ANY kinds of clothes or shoes or even school supplies (when we’re busy being picky about which brand our clothes or even notebooks or binders are from) because they have to save up for REAL basic necessities in life such as food, shelter, etc.. Some of them have to start working hard at an early age so that they can provide for their siblings or even their own parents on top of going to school, like 21-year-old, Laura Hernandez, who has worked since she was17 years old to help her mother provide for her and her little brother after her father passed away.

           

           Studies and reports in 2008 showed that families with children and families that were led by women were more likely to live in poverty or would be considered as the working poor. This has been true for Laura Hernandez whose mom had to start providing for her and her little brother after her dad passed away in the year 2008 when she was 17 years old. Her little brother was only 9 years old. She was able to graduate high school but couldn’t afford to go to college with the rest of her graduating class because she knew she had to help her mom. Even when Laura’s dad was alive, she wasn’t able to spend her teen years as any other normal teenager because she always had to stay in and take care of her dad when she wasn’t at school. She started working in any place that would hire her as soon as her dad was gone, not even really having time to grieve over her loss. She worked at places like Food4less and McDonald’s while her mom was a waitress in a Korean restaurant.

           

           After about a year of working to support her family without going to school, she decided that she wanted to be something more in the future, even if she wasn’t going to be a millionaire living in Beverly Hills she wanted to do more for her brother and her mother who have both done as much as they could without any complaints. So she enrolled into a community college and is now juggling both school and work. She is now a retail sales associate at a shoe store and is now getting paid $9.30 an hour.

          

          Laura Hernandez is much like Colleen, a single mother of two children, who is mentioned in “Nickel and Dimed”(p.118-119), in that they are both grateful in what they have now and although they would want a better life for their family, they’re not greedy about it. For example, when asked about how they felt about barely getting by while others had so much, Colleen’s response was, “’ I don’t mind really, because I guess I’m a simple person, and I don’t want what they have. I mean,, it’s nothing to me. But what I would like is to be able to take a day off now and then… if I had to... and still be able to buy groceries the next day.” In my personal opinion, I feel as though most of those who are considered to be the working poor have stronger moral values and are more thankful for whatever they are given and make the most out of what they have.