Plight of the working poor
Tales of extreme wealth or extreme poverty capture the public’s attention. But, most people do not realize the plight of the working poor.
Contrary to popular belief, the dilemma for the working poor does not stem from a lack of effort. They are doing their part, they go to work, sometimes seven days a week and more often than not, to more than one job. Weary households fighting to get ahead on minimum wage in an inflated economy. Jobs generally provide them with the means to barely scrape by, treading paycheck-to-paycheck, earning just enough to keep from going under, swallowing their pride sometimes to visit food banks.
Unfortunately, having a job, or two, still cannot make ends meet and the food on the table is scarce. WTPU Non-Profit comes across this misfortune all too often. Our Non-Profit began its first mission in 2014 by providing hungry families with boxes of fresh food, which we called support boxes. Many people exhaust all of their resources and we are there to help.
Putting enough food on the table, choosing which bill is more important to pay, telling their child they can no longer play an organized sport, due to a lack of funds - These are not problems exclusively faced by people below the poverty line.
There are millions of people who earn well above the official poverty line and still barely stay afloat. The working poor income bracket makes “too much” to qualify for any government assistance. These people and their dependents do not have enough to live comfortably, or even to afford basic necessities.
They're a diverse range of people: single parents, couples with and without children, business owners, senior citizens and everyone in between. Their financial situations, however, show many unfortunate similarities.
We are committed to spreading the word about the widespread effects of being a part of the working poor class — To help you truly understand, listed below are a few examples of the struggles that the working poor encounter:
The hygiene products struggle:
This is probably one of the most ignored and degrading of all the struggles. Imagine running out of shampoo, soap, toothpaste, toilet paper, deodorant, tampons, razors, laundry detergent, etc. and you simply have no money to buy more. Now what? You pray that you don’t smell bad or get a lack of hygiene infection…
The Holiday struggle:
It’s the most wonderful time of year, right? but not for everyone… Every parent wants the holidays to be very special for their family. It’s really a magical time for the children, but not so much for parents, who do not have enough money leftover to purchase gifts. The desire to make their children happy is what puts many in danger of being trampled on Black Friday. It’s what causes their bills to pile up or a credit card to be maxed out.
The school supplies struggle:
You just spent thousands on summer day camp… and now it’s back to school shopping time. For one child, school supplies can easily run from $60-$150 dollars or even more. A graphing calculator costs $65, on sale! — And they grow like wildflowers! Add back to school clothes shopping to the list as well. At those prices, a family may have issues coming up with the funds for their water bill or half of their electricity bill that month…
The overdraft fee struggle:
You accidentally spent one dollar more than you had in the bank and now you have a hefty overdraft fee. Banks usually charge an overdraft fee of around $35 or even more! and if that one dollar overdraft causes other things to “bounce” then you are looking at multiple overdraft fees. Banks bring in millions each year on these fees. But, the overdraft fee recipient is struggling to get by for the remainder of the month… and there goes that great credit score!
The bill paying struggle:
Decisions! Decisions! As usual life happened and things came up… and now you have to decide which final notice to pay first? The water bill or the electric bill?!
The car maintenance struggle:
Most people cannot even afford to own a vehicle. But, if you are of the working poor and fortunate enough to own one then you know this struggle well. You pray that nothing happens to your vehicle, because you can’t afford the repair fees. A set of new tires could easily cost an entire two months of grocery money. So you make those old tires last until they are NASCAR slick. Then one day while driving to work that front tire blows….
that leads us to….
The grocery struggle:
You need a brand new tire to drive to work to make money to pay for groceries… You don’t qualify for food stamp assistance. So, now what? You have $50 to spend while food shopping for your family of four. What groceries will you purchase to keep your family fed for 8 more days until payday.
The medical emergency struggle:
What happens if you or your child has to be hospitalized? Bring on the stress and worries! Not only will you have a medical bill that is insanely high, but now you’ve missed time at work. You have no more vacation days left and your employer won’t pay you for the time off. There’s nothing worse than focusing on the cost of a hospital visit and also trying to compensate for missed time at work, while worrying if you or your child will heal.
The sick kid struggle:
Your kid gets sick in the middle of the week and at this time, you don’t even have $5 dollars to your name. You simply cannot afford the doctor visit co-pay or any store-bought medicine right now. Your only option is a home remedy and hoping that things don’t get worse.
The dental struggle:
You wake up in excruciating pain, a throbbing, swollen face. Oh no! you don’t have dental insurance. Maybe your job doesn’t offer dental coverage. Maybe you do have medical insurance but cannot afford to add on dental insurance to it. Now what? hopefully that leftover amoxicillin in the medicine cabinet will do the job, while you try save up enough money to have the problematic tooth removed. Then you rush to the pharmacy and spend what you can on over-the-counter oral numbing medication that works for 30 minutes.
Our hope is for you to understand and share the feelings of another, particularly those of the working poor.
Join us as we help alleviate some of these struggles, burdens and challenges. Together we can make a difference in someone’s day, week, life…
