2. The cost of living in New Jersey is incredibly high; from rent, to taxes, food, health care, transportation expenses, childcare, and etc. The families in Unequal Childhoods, especially the working-class/poor families would all experience a tremendously lower standard of living if they moved to/lived in New Jersey. It would be especially hard on the Taylor, McAllister, and Brindle families because all of the households are run by a single female parent and have very limited funds coming in. Tyrec Taylor’s mother works as a secretary and only earns $20,000 a year, which according to the Self Sufficiency Standard for Essex County, would barely accommodate one adult ($20,732), nevermind a family consisting of one adult, a ten year old, a thirteen year old, and an eighteen year old. The “providers” of the two other families, the McAllister’s and the Brindles, are both unemployed and receive food stamps and cash stipends, along with public assistance. The rent alone for the Brindle family is hard to sustain at $650 and compared to the rent costs in New Jersey, which are the highest in the nation, they would not be able to afford livable housing conditions for that amount of money. Their living conditions now are subjected to leaky ceilings, roaches, and broken washers and dryers. The McAllister family doesn’t have enough food to go around especially with all of the extra people that live there; the eleven members of extended family that sleep and eat in the McAllister home on a weekly basis. The children have to ask permission before eating food. When there is food, there is often not enough for second helpings. The cost of food in Essex County for one adult, an infant, a preschooler, and a schoolage child is $639. Ms. McAllister certainly would not be able to feed eleven family members in Essex County New Jersey on food stamps at this cost. The Driver family, although run by Ms. Driver and her boyfriend earn only between $15,000-$25,000 a year. In order to live in Essex County, they would need to bring in near $50,716 to live according to the efficiency standards.
3. According to the Legal Services of New Jersey, both the McAllister and Brindle families would be categorized with the poverty level of New Jersey. Both are single parents and the LSNJ states that the poverty rates are higher for single parent mothers.
Although both families receive financial assistance, the quality of life, the struggle to make ends met would be far greater in New Jersey. Ms. Brindle doesn’t work because of the expense incurred on providing childcare for Melmel. Essentially, if she did work, nearly all of the funds earned would go to the cost of childcare, which is extremely expensive. In Cresskill, New Jersey, for a 9am to 3pm program, early childcare costs around $1100 per month. Ms. McAllister, with schoolaged children and being a minority, has a larger disadvantage due to her race as the LSNJ states that poverty is much higher for minorities. In the McAllister home the financial burden of providing for the extended family as well would make food even scarcer and much harder to provide for the necessities such as food and clean clothing in New Jersey.
4. I feel that learning about the different the families, how they function, survive, their influences, and struggles has been an eye opener for me. Before reading Unequal Childhoods, I had never made a genuine connection to life outside of school and school. What each family (student) faces outside of school truly influences everything they do in school. I think as an educator, I should know about the community and the families who live there to better understand my students. Although this information has been very interesting and at times disturbing, I don’t feel that my overall teaching objectives will change. However, I will be more aware of my community and how my students live, which will provide me with an open-mind to adjust my teaching style to my students’ needs. It is hard to come from a different way of life, or mind set, without bringing the stereotypes that are ingrained in us, to a place that has true hardship and poverty to say that you understand what a student or the students may be living through. I think my hardest challenge is going to be able to relate to my students on that level, but I know I will try my best…that is all I can do.
Good point about the expense of day care. This is very big issue in single parent homes. I have heard some ignorant comments about lazy mothers being on welfare rather than working. These people do not seem to understand that when you are a single mother and you work then you may need to send your child to day care. It could cost more than what the mother would make or a large portion of their salary. This makes it very difficult to just go out and get a job. If only it were that simple.
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