Excellent article. Only thing he left out was that poverty can come from a job loss as well. And many of the unemployed are those w/middle-class attitudes but still unable to get ANY job. They may apply for survival jobs, only to be turned away as overqualified. Whats overqualified? In this case, its often anyone with a family to support. Employers used to paying rock-bottom wages to casual workers who expected nothing more than a few dollars to buy prom or rock concert tickets or pay for the kids piano lessons or treat the grandkids to a few goodies. Faced w/a growing number of applicants who cant find any kind of job after theyve been laid off, downsized, rightsized or otherwise decimated, theyve changed the hiring profile but not wages. The result is a growing number of working poor who must work multiple jobs w/multiple variable schedules which keep them & their families in emotional as well as financial turmoil. Theyre often not nice to look at or spend time with. Theres no money to spend @ the hairstylist or manicurists---let alone the dentist. New clothes, if any, come from low-end thrift shops or even the trash. (Youd be surprised how many clothes better off people throw away). If appliances break down, they cant be repaired or replaced. Yes, according to the Census, the poor may own all major appliances---but how many are in working order? The cars they MUST have to get to the jobs that dont pay enuf to support their families are often clunkers w/dings, dents, & shabby upholstery. In worse cases, they double as homes. Living as they do, theyre often sick but cant afford to see doctors. Theyre short on sleep due to their erratic work schedules. these were people who followed the rules that were supposed to prevent this situation. They were married college grads who were cared for and about their families and communities. Many were active in church, synagogue, or mosque. But long-term un or underemployment changes the whole picture. If they dont withdraw from others, others may withdraw from them. Theyre afraid that poverty is a disease they, too, might catch. At the very least, they dont want to lose social status by associating w/someone whos suddenly beneath them. Its bad enuf when its friends or neighbors. But it can be family as well. So much for those much-vaunted Family Values that Reaganite conservatives trumpet. How devastating is that when the family you counted on to support you emotionally, if not financially, turns its back? As far as Im concerned, the lowest circle of Dantes hell is too good for such people. The new--poor didnt cause their situation. All they need is a hand-up of a good job to be restored to former status. But employers dont consider it profitable to do so. They want newly minted college grads---20-yos w/20 years experience. Given the ever higher speed of technologic change, there might not be an alternative. But we can put pressure on employers to pay a more realistic family-supporting wage. We can also pressure businesses to stop playing bait-and-switch w/benefits. That is, offering benefits if one agrees to work a certain number of hours, then assign schedules thats a few minutes short of required time. Or raising hourly wages, then cutting hours worked proportionately. But most of all, hammering it home to those who are well off the words There but for the grace of God go I.
Posted on: Thu, 28 Nov 2013 15:03:59 +0000
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