Response # 13

The images of prison guards that are popularized in the media are very distinct. When most people think or prison guards there tends to be the same conceptual figure hat is described. Usually, this figure is a male and he male is of massive size with a stern personality and loud voice. These guards have a very disciplined personality and rarely crack a smile. Their job is portrayed to keep inmates inline within the prison. Many people believe these guards to be very aggressive and use tactics that could be harmful if necessary. On the other hand, women are not seen to be as present. Women guards are not graded with the same rubric. There tends to be much discrimination as to whether or not a woman could control should a hostile environment. Some believe that women would not be able to handle to emotional rollercoaster that guards experiences on a day-to-day basis. This is an assumption that only men can handle high levels of stress and emotional control. As women are beginning to become more involved within the prison systems, there is still segregation as to what job a woman may be able to perform. As described in Britons book, more women are employed in state facilities than federal. Two complications arise with this one, there is more money in the federal facilities than state and second, and women are portrayed as not being able to handle to severe criminals. More so, women are forced or guided to more “women” jobs such as, working in the kitchen or even cleaning. The media has been able to fit the women into the picture of police officers and prison guards. However, from my on experience, the women are enforced to take more masculine characteristics the feminine ones. They tend to be very tough woman who have strong voices and like to “rough” people if needed. They enjoy the hunting for bad people or keeping the criminals in control .

Response # 12

Occupational segregation is a concern in society and the workforce. It has been shown through history that certain jobs are for certain genders. We as a society have begun to accept these terms. Some of the occupation barriers that exist are prohibited by law. There are few reasons as to why the segregation still continues to be upheld. Federal government’s employers and city employment all state they are an equal opportunity employer, which means no candidate shall be judged on the basis of the skin, age, and sex. The reason as to why so many women are not in the police force as to men can stem for the fact that women do not feel as capable to perform the job. Women who do enter the workforce that is predominantly male, often times leave due to the failure to be accepted into the career. Also, men who do pre-screening for applicants may have an ideological mind set which prevents the acceptance of a female application for further consideration. As a previous applicant for a civil service job, I believe that it has nothing to do with the qualifications that one person may possess. As I was perusing the position of a police officer trainee, through a police department in Florida, I completed all portions of the process with an overall score of 89%. I was ranked in the top 10 on the eligibility list. When it came time to offer careers I was not selected. I was only 19 yrs old at the time. Of the 11 positions that were filled none of them were under the age of 24yrs. This was also the same for women. Not one female was ranked in the top 15% of the list. This could have been due to the fact that the interview process was all completed by male officers who have been working for the department for many years. They could have an old mind set as too women are not meant to become police officers.

Response # 10

The adaptive measures that chaudry subjects used to over come the welfare reform act were stressful recoveries for a woman who is trying to make a living not only for herself, but her family. The major adaption was the use of Kin care. Kin care is the basic of childcare. Asking someone whom you may know through family or may not know at all to watch your child. This became very hard for people to use this type of childcare due to the inconsistency. They caretakers were not always the most educated people and often times were not very friendly to the mothers. Many mothers couldn’t turn to family to watch their children because there was so much tension between them.

One of chaudry’s interviewees was a women form Guatemala. She moved to New York City to live with her mother so her child would be born in the US. This would giver her child the opportunities that she never had. Her and her mother did not get along very well and therefore, she could not use her mother as a babysitter for her young daughter. So therefore, she had to turn to kin care. She found Puerto Rican women who lived down the hall form her mother, which made it very convenient while she tried to finish school. This woman took very good care of her young daughter. Her daughter was also very content even though she was very young. The babysitter also did not take any money and if she did it was around $5 a day. After a few months pasted, the babysitter began to convey comments to the baby’s mother on how she was not suitable to be the baby’s mother anymore. She was to young and would never be able to support the baby. This began to worry the mother very much. Finally, the mother was showed a stack of paper that was written by the baby sitter relinquishing all parental rights from her child to the babysitter. This scared the mother dearly. She began to worry tremendously while she was at school if her baby was going to be there when she got home.

Some of the recommendations that Chaudry uses to help with this problem were, increase available care options and supports for families and infants, make educational investments to foster early childhood developments, improve access to child care systems and promote continuity in care, and provide child care assistance to all eligible families.

All of these options would help mothers who are trying to get solid ground underneath them not have to worry about the burden of childcare, their children could be watched by people of education and integrity. There would not have to be a continues search for who will be the next childcare watcher. Nor would they have to worry about whether or not their children are in good watch while they are away at work or school. This would alleviate the kin care option and help ease the family’s tension that may exist due to the hostile environment that may exist between families. Chaudry, gives these recommendations with the hope that one day some of these will be implemented into the poor working woman’s life. We cannot keep suppressing women by giving them hurdles that are impossible to overcome. As we try to solve the poverty issue through this country and world there needs to be multiple factors that are taken into account. We cannot settle on the simple fact that poor people are lazy and that’s why they are there. We also cannot pass policies that prevent woman and other people from becoming something other than government provided lives. We live in one of the most sophisticated countries in the world and yet, we have millions of children who go to bed hungry every night, living on the street, and moving from home to home. This is unacceptable and ignorant for our country to let in continue. We are not all born with the same opportunities but however, our government should be providing us every possibility for that to happen. If we continue to overlook this situation it will only become a larger problem than it already is.

Response # 11

I am currently reading a book titles “The Working Poor” written by David Shipler. In Shiplers book he indentifies with twelve different poor people. Some of them are women, male, Caucasian, black, and other races. He follows them through a period on their current life to determine why they are poor. Much to his surprise, or to the public’s surprise, all of his subjects are working. They work very hard and long hours. What he finds is that due to other outside circumstances, which at times can be out of the persons control, have kept them or put them into the poverty world. One of his many subjects is a poor workingwomen who is a mother.

He interviews these women and finds that many of them grew-up in the inner-city where there is high crime, low quality education, and little resources to a high paying job. Therefore, these women are working for almost pennies an hour. One woman by the name of Caroline explains her current job to her previous jobs. As she is a bit older now in life she had three goals to accomplish. One, to achieve a college education, she completed an associates degree from a local community college, moved out of the shelter and into a place of her own, and last, to have a “good paying job.” Caroline uses the phrase “eludes her.” She states that back in the 1970’s she was working in a factory making $6.00 an hour. Now in 2000, she was making $6.80 an hour as a cashier at Wal-Mart. This shows in real life situations that working doesn’t always work for the poor. Many times it sets them further back. When they get a job the lose government subsides and in return, the victims fall behind on their bills, and are charged outrageous interest rates. Many times women cannot have bank accounts because their credit has been shot due to unpaid bills. With that, it cost money to be poor. They have to pay fees at local cash checking places to receive their money. If they have to buy a car to get to and from work, they are charged upwards of 18 to 25% interest rates on a car that is no more reliable than some public transportation systems.

Response # 9

The working poor women conditions and the statistics on families and children are hand in hand. The working poor women usually have children and therefore, their children experience on the affects of poverty. The poverty line for a family of four, according to the federal government, is $20,000. It is clear that this a ludicrous number to imply poverty. The information given in this article states in order for a family of four to makes “ends meat”, it would need to earn twice that amount. Children poverty has seriously increased since the starting of the 21^st century. There are over 13 million children that live in poverty. This number is statistical data from the year of 2006. The statistical data has increased in every category. Minorities, immigrants, African Americans, Caucasians, etc.. Have all seen a rise in the poverty. Families have also been the largest group that is entering into poverty. As mothers and fathers have lost their jobs, they have not been able to keep the things they once had such as, a house, food, clothes, basic utilities, transportation, and most importantly, medical care.

Children that come from families that are entering in the world of poverty are able to detect that changes that are taking place. Many children are now going to bed hungry; children are also having to move out of their homes and schools and into shelter homes which are much smaller an often times not as safe or clean. The “head of the household” has to take jobs that pay very little with no benefits. Therefore, 41% of families that rent homes spend more than a third of their income on rent alone. This is clear and precise evidence as to why families are not able to afford other basic necessities that are required in life. Many of the children that are poor are also very young. Twenty percent of the poor children are under the age of six. This is another factor that is not being examined by the public eye. If more than a third of a families income is going towards rent, then that does not leave much money left at such low rate of pay. Childcare is expensive. So many parents cannot afford to work because it literally cost them more money than they are bring home in their paycheck to send their children to childcare.

Response # 7

The problems that poor working mother face with low paying jobs in regards to childcare, is the inconsistency, “malnourished”, and unstable outcomes from these types of child care. Low paying jobs do not allow for mothers to put in their children in childcare centers that are fully equipped with resources and quality teachers to care for their children. Therefore, these mothers have to rely on other sources for childcare. Many times they are directed to government support childcare where it is not the best, but nonetheless, they watch their child at a minimal cost. When these places do not work out for mothers due to the altercations the child might have with the provider, or the mothers, then even unstable childcare is brought upon the child. The child will sometimes spend time at friends of the mothers who have children, or grandparents who are old and unable to look after the child, which in return, lacks child safety. This does not let the mom’s have a peace of mind while they are on the job, which can hinder their performance and not allow them to be promoted or even worse, possibly losing their job.

When moms have to look else where for childcare, the child does not benefit. Many mothers work for childcare center and yet cannot afford to pay for their child to attend these centers. This is called exploitation. When someone is exploited for work and yet cannot afford the service or item they produce.

In the reading of Putting Children First, written by Ajay Chaudry, he gives of real life examples on what mothers do when adequate childcare is not affordable. One mom gives her story on how she had to have her neighbor, who she barley knew, watch her daughter. It went well for a while but then turned south. She went to pick up her daughter one day, gave her neighbor a call to let her know she was on her way, which she did everyday, but this time she did not answer. She then rang the doorbell and no one answered. Come to find out she was supposedly in the house the whole time and must not have heard the doorbell or phone ring.

Response # 8

The specific problems that “urban poverty” creates for poor working mothers are numerous. Poor workingwomen have little access to childcare centers. The childcare centers that do exist are poor in quality and do not provide the utmost quality care a child needs. The “urban poverty” also prohibits poor working mother from transferring jobs because the jobs are moving out of the city and into the rural areas. Many times this is because the people want to be in a safer neighborhood. The problem with the jobs moving out on the inner city is that, the poor do not have access to transportation most of the time and therefore, their employment is harder to achieve when the jobs have been moved out of the city. Jessica explains how it is hard for her to drive places because her car can only rive in gear two due to her transmission being broke. If she had to drive any long distance, it would be very difficult for her to arrive to work on time.

The gentleman who works as a janitor for a complex in South Carolina is paid very little money and drives around 30 miles one-way to work. He currently lives with his mother and therefore, is able to save some money on rent cost, but if he were to have to live on his own, it would become a lot more difficult for him to ay for his transportation. If something were to break down on his car that enabled him from getting to work, it would be very possible that he could lose his job. The urban poverty makes it much more difficult than the “poor” who live in mix income areas. The mix income areas tend to have more versatility and opportunity for people. The mix income helps the education within the area stay positive because their children are attending the same schools as the poor.