THE ORIGINAL SITUATION:
This group represented a single woman with two small children (a girl, age 4 and a boy, age 6). Her daughter had to go to daycare while she was at work. She needed full-time care for the 39 hours. Her son went to elementary school and an after school program. They were all in good health, and both children were up-to-date on necessary immunization shots.
The young woman had no car because she couldn't afford the payment, insurance, and gas on her monthly income, so she had to take public transportation to and from work. Her daughter’s daycare provided a shuttle service that would pick her up no earlier than 7:00 AM and would drop her off no later than 6:00 PM. Her son’s school bus picked him up at 6:30 AM, but his after school program did not offer bus service, and his mother had to pick him up by 6:30 PM. If she picked him up late more than 3 times, he would lose his space in the program. Luckily, his elementary school was located only a 15-minute walk from her new apartment.
She had a high school diploma and one year of college where she was a work-study student in a position that allowed her to gain the skills necessary to do the work required of her new job. She dropped out of college when she found out she was pregnant with her daughter and left her abusive boyfriend (the children’s father). He was of no help to her and the kids, and he did not pay child support. He lived in a different city.
She left her boyfriend rather abruptly, so she brought with her only the barest of essentials (some clothes, some toiletries, and a few personal items). She had only $1000 to get herself set up before she got paid for her first month’s work.
She had to begin work within 2 weeks of arriving in town, so time was essential. She had to figure things out pretty quickly.
The young woman had no car because she couldn't afford the payment, insurance, and gas on her monthly income, so she had to take public transportation to and from work. Her daughter’s daycare provided a shuttle service that would pick her up no earlier than 7:00 AM and would drop her off no later than 6:00 PM. Her son’s school bus picked him up at 6:30 AM, but his after school program did not offer bus service, and his mother had to pick him up by 6:30 PM. If she picked him up late more than 3 times, he would lose his space in the program. Luckily, his elementary school was located only a 15-minute walk from her new apartment.
She had a high school diploma and one year of college where she was a work-study student in a position that allowed her to gain the skills necessary to do the work required of her new job. She dropped out of college when she found out she was pregnant with her daughter and left her abusive boyfriend (the children’s father). He was of no help to her and the kids, and he did not pay child support. He lived in a different city.
She left her boyfriend rather abruptly, so she brought with her only the barest of essentials (some clothes, some toiletries, and a few personal items). She had only $1000 to get herself set up before she got paid for her first month’s work.
She had to begin work within 2 weeks of arriving in town, so time was essential. She had to figure things out pretty quickly.
THE PRELIMINARY BUDGET & NOTES:
- RENT
- UTILITIES
- GROCERIES
- PHONE
- TRANSPORTATION
- CHILDCARE
- HEALTH
- TOTAL
- $539.00
- $40.00
- $40.00 plus FNS Aid
- $20.00
- $68.00
- $117.00
- $MEDICAID
- $824.00
| Group 2 Preliminary Budget & Notes |
LIFE'S CURVEBALL:
This person's work schedule is tight, and she's picked her son up from his after school program late for the fourth time. He’s lost his spot in the program.
She now hs to pay for childcare for him from 3:00-6:00 every afternoon. A friend from work has a mother who is looking to make a little extra money, so she offers to babysit for $50 a week. The friend’s mother has a car and will pick the son up from school and will sit with him at the apartment until she gets home from work.
She now has to accommodate an additional $50 a week expense, about $200 a month.
She now hs to pay for childcare for him from 3:00-6:00 every afternoon. A friend from work has a mother who is looking to make a little extra money, so she offers to babysit for $50 a week. The friend’s mother has a car and will pick the son up from school and will sit with him at the apartment until she gets home from work.
She now has to accommodate an additional $50 a week expense, about $200 a month.
THE REVISED BUDGET & NOTES:
- RENT
- UTILITIES
- GROCERIES
- PHONE
- TRANSPORTATION
- CHILDCARE
- HEALTH
- TOTAL
- $429.00 (Moved to smaller apartment)
- $30.00
- $20.00
- $30.00
- $68.00
- $317.00 (Had to hire part-time babysitter for weekends for additional $200.00/month)
- $MEDICAID
- $924.00 (Leaving a balance of $76 each month)
| Group 2 Revised Budget & Notes |
FINAL EVALUATIONS:
One of the biggest sacrifices low-income families must make in the name of making ends meet is time spent with family. Many low-income households cannot function without the necessity of leaving children in the care of others, sometimes complete strangers. Many low-income households are represented by single mothers or fathers who must work long hours or odd schedules in order to meet the family’s basic needs.
In this group’s evaluation, students had to address this issue by commenting on the following statements:
As your experience with this hypothetical situation suggests, schedules are often tightly packed for the low-skilled worker. These tight schedules leave very little family time, and children often spend a majority of their day in the care of child care professionals, neighbors, friends, or relatives. Explain what long-term effects this lack of time spent with a parent must have on children.
Their comments follow:
In this group’s evaluation, students had to address this issue by commenting on the following statements:
As your experience with this hypothetical situation suggests, schedules are often tightly packed for the low-skilled worker. These tight schedules leave very little family time, and children often spend a majority of their day in the care of child care professionals, neighbors, friends, or relatives. Explain what long-term effects this lack of time spent with a parent must have on children.
Their comments follow:
Most children endure the negative effects of their parents working constantly. The children have to be with baby sitters or be in afterschool program, which leaves them with little to no time for afterschool activities, which could include not only help on school work but also interactions with other children outside of school.
After school programs have to help children with their homework everyday because parents aren’t around to do it. Most after school programs require parents to pick children up by a certain time or the child is removed from the program. As we experienced in our hypothetical situation, getting to the program on time for pick-up is sometimes hard and losing a spot in the program causes even more financial and emotional issues.
Parents are also affected by not being able to spend much time with their children. Parents often spend what time they do have at home doing so many other things, like laundry, cooking or cleaning, or simply resting. Weekends are also often spend doing other things that can’t get done during the week: laundry, grocery shopping, and errands.
The life lessons that the kids miss out on just makes education just that more important in helping them learn to pull themselves out of poverty. Since the kids can’t do the things that other kids can do, they see what they miss out on and want things to be different for their own kids.
After school programs have to help children with their homework everyday because parents aren’t around to do it. Most after school programs require parents to pick children up by a certain time or the child is removed from the program. As we experienced in our hypothetical situation, getting to the program on time for pick-up is sometimes hard and losing a spot in the program causes even more financial and emotional issues.
Parents are also affected by not being able to spend much time with their children. Parents often spend what time they do have at home doing so many other things, like laundry, cooking or cleaning, or simply resting. Weekends are also often spend doing other things that can’t get done during the week: laundry, grocery shopping, and errands.
The life lessons that the kids miss out on just makes education just that more important in helping them learn to pull themselves out of poverty. Since the kids can’t do the things that other kids can do, they see what they miss out on and want things to be different for their own kids.
