Poverty in Real Life

06/28/2007

The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life.
Jane Addams

In our discussions about the impacts of poverty, we often speak in terms of statistics. In Keepin' On: The Everyday Struggles of Young Families in Poverty (Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Company, 2006), Jean Ispa, Kathy Thornburg, and Mark Fine show us the real impact of poverty on families. For five years they observed nine young African American mothers facing issues related to single parenthood and poverty. In finding high quality child care these mothers faced the following obstacles....

Some were not informed about opportunities for public support for child care that they were entitled to
Some could not access high quality programs due to transportation limitations
Some needed care in off hours when quality programs were not open
One mother lost her subsidy when her income rose beyond the state income limit of $6.90 per hour
Many of them tended to justify in their own minds their use of low quality providers by choosing to see the care that was going on as better than it really was

"How To" Guide for Advocates

If you are concerned about the limited child care choices available to low income families, you might want to check out this inspiring advocacy guide: Stick Your Neck Out - A Street-Smart Guide to Creating Change in Your Community and Beyond. This is a comprehensive and practical guide to the skills, qualities, and strategies you need to make a difference, covering every aspect of working for change — from choosing an issue to mapping out a plan, creating a vision of success, organizing a team, building trust, resolving conflicts, working with the media, moving through bureaucracies, setting legal strategies and more. This week, Stick Your Neck Out is on sale at the Exchange Bookstore!

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