In New Jersey, it is rather easy to make enough money to be well over the federal poverty line, yet still be struggling. The Federal Poverty Level is, nevertheless, far below what is needed to meet their families’ basic needs (NJRCL). The New Jersey Real Cost of Living provides information about how much it acutally costs to live in New Jersey. Even though Essex County is not one of the wealthiest in New Jersey, it is still located in one of the wealthiest states in the United States. Many of the families in Unequal Childhoods, by Lareau, would find it difficult to manage in this county due to the very high real cost of living.
In Essex County, transportation accounts for 6-12% of the total budget which is almost the same percentage allotted to food (NJRCL). Living in Essex County and having a child in multiple extra-curricular activities like Garrett Tallinger would prove even more costly than it already is. Garrett’s activities were estimated to cost $4,000 per year (Lareau). Instead of playing on three soccer teams, the Tallinger’s may be forced to cut down on Garrett’s involvement on multiple teams, in particular the travel teams which require them to travel far distances.
Stacey Marshall and Alexander Williams also participated in a number of extra-curricular activities. The expense of not only traveling to these events but also paying to participate in them in addition to paying for the hotel and restaurant meals can quickly add up, especially if they are traveling to different parts of New Jersey where the cost of hotel rooms and restaurants are expensive. Living in Essex would pose a challenge for even middle class families. Maintaining their current standard of living would not be easy. Focus could easily shift from extra-curricular to ensuring basic necessities are met.
Providing there is a child in the household, the cost of child care in Essex county account for a large portion of the budget in addition to housing costs. Because the cost of housing and child care are very expensive, families providing for a large extended family, such as the Brindle’s and McAllister’s could find it even more diffucult to get enough food and clothing for everyone. With high housing prices, families will not be able to afford an apartment or house the size they want. According to Lareau, speace is already an issue in the McAllister household; most nights the children sleep two to a bed.
The information provided by NJRCL and LSNJ is eye-opening. It provides a frightening sense as to how much it costs to actually live in New Jersey; the numbers are truly haunting. Seeing the numbers sensitizied me to how much it actually costs to live, and raise a family, in New Jersey in addition to the enormous difficulty and pressure involved. Families with a single parent or single income is even more daunting.
Knowing where your students come from is vital in order to be able to relate to them. Unfortunately, a family’s economic status creates class differences. Children’s activities are expensive and if a family is struggling to provide the basic necessities for their children, they are not going to spend money on an extra-curricular activity for their child. They also may not be able to spend money on new clothes or school supplies every year. They are not always going to be able to attend all parent teacher conferences or school performances because they have to work, do not have adequate means of transportation, or can not afford a babysitter. Because of these economic constraints, parents in poor and working class families are often unable to do/provide these “extras” for their children. It is easy to dismiss these parents as disinterested in their child's life. However, in most cases, their actions are not an accurate portrayal of their level of care/love for their child. It simply may be that their economic status is causing their priority to be providing basic necessities such as: food, clothing, etc.
Additionally, it is important to be conscious of and support efforts working toward bridging the gap between incomes and self-sufficiency standard. In particular, I liked the proposal of family-friendly policies in the work place. According to the NJRCL report, for those working low-wage jobs, having family-friendly policies such as paid family leave or subsidized child care would benefit the individual as well as the employer’s employee retention. This policy would benefit working class and lower income families, such as the Brindle’s and/or Taylor’s, where parents are preoccupied by the amount of work in caring for children coupled with insufficient economic resources (Lareau). Also, the call for expansion, accessibility, and overall improvement of training programs, stated in NJRCL, aimed at teaching necessary work skills, could provide low-income families with knowledge enabling them to improve their economic standing.
No comments:
Post a Comment