Blog #7

Jacqueline started out in the care of her father because he was already staying at home and Julia needed quick care since she was starting school in hopes of achieving a better job in the future. She was hesitant due to Jacqueline being only one month old but knew that the sooner she started school the sooner it was going to be able to aid her in her job options. That care ended when Jacqueline was 5 months old due to the dissolution of the relationship between her father and Julia which started Julia into a summer of desperation where she cared for her children while not working due to her waiting on school to start back up again. Once the semester started, Julia’s younger sister moved in with her and provided care for Jacqueline full time while Julia went to school and had a job internship. This care did not last long either as Julia’s sister got a job and started to increase her working hours while Julia could not do the same in fear that her public assistance would be cut off thus leaving her in a worse position financially then she was in at the moment. At this point Julia quit school so that she could care for her daughters while working few hours as she waited for a Work Experience Program which upon finally receiving she was able to take advantage of their child care benefits and get Jacqueline into a family day care. A few months later this care ended due to the programs inability to pay the provider in a timely fashion and also Julia’s inability to pay her until the program was able to figure out the problem. Once again Julia placed Jacqueline in kin care, this time with her cousin, due to the quick ability and her feelings that a family member would be more willing to deal with the late payments. This care fell through as well a few months later as the payments continued to be late or non-existent, so Julia was forced to quit one of her jobs in order to take care of Jacqueline until another family care provider could be found. Julia really like the new provider due to the positive environment she provided in her home and the learning opportunities she gave to Jacqueline. As jobs and need changed, Julia did everything in her power to keep Jacqueline with this provider because she felt that the stable and positive environment she gave to Jacqueline outweighed any extra money or stressors that it caused and because the provider was able to better accommodate Julia’s changing needs for care. As Julia moved through the welfare and work system, she was suddenly stripped of her child care aid which eventually made her stop her relationship with Jacqueline’s provider which Julia did not want to do by any means but had to due to lack of funds thus she went back to kin care this time in the form of her ailing mother. Julia and Jacqueline were both upset by this break with the provider but were left with no other choice but to leave their preferred care due to lack of money and hours flexibility. The major factor that contributed to Julia’s need to switch child care arrangements, even when she did not want to, was the need for money to pay for child care but also to survive.

Minimum wage greatly effects poor working mothers to find and maintain stable, affordable, preferred child care because they are stuck in the catch-22 of the welfare system. If they make more money then they are cut off from public assistance which despite their small pay increase is still greatly needed in order to provide their children with adequate care yet if they make less than minimum wage they are stuck using whatever care they can find while not being able to save money or make their way up the pay scale due to their low end job or no job. The women in the videos show that minimum wage is not enough to provide their family with a better life because all of their time is spent working long hours in order to receive their meager pay checks that are barely able to get them the necessitates of life. They are not allowed anything other than the basic needs of living and feel bad for not being able to provide their children with more things that would better their life like school supplies and better schooling. One of the women goes hungry sometimes so that she has enough food to feed her children which only helps to weaken her beyond the long, tiring hours she is putting into work. They feel hopeless because it seems that no matter how hard they work they are getting nowhere because their checks are barely able to support them and their families, leaving no money for savings towards emergencies or a better future.