9
If you're looking to help out the working class, and in particular, working class mothers, the first and most important thing to do is to not be afraid to enact any sort of legislation. many stereotypes exist about people in this situation: that they're lazy, irresponsible or jsut looking for a hand-out to continue to merely get by in their situation. These are simply not true of the majority. Many people who live below the poverty line are there not through continued personal choices, but because there is no escape from the situation.
Specifically then, you're going to have to attack some of the points which perpetuate the situation. Chapter nine of Kathrine newman's book "inner city" entitled "what we can do for the working poor" addresses several such points. among these include reducing crime, getting businesses more involved in community action, bettering public education, and increasing social supports for those who are earnestly looking for living wages but cannot find them. i'm sure, however, that these were already fairly obvious to you. one motif that may not be so obvious, however, was that of physical location. living in a poor area not only usually means dealing with poorer public schools (education being a key higher incomes) but also a general lack of jobs, particularly well paying ones, and connections. Even if one ahd the proper skills to receive a particular job, the lack of transportation may inhibit that person to get it. Additionally, a lack of connections may inhibit that person from even knowing the job existed in the first place. my suggestions to remedy this, would be first to expand public transportation not only to ensure that people are able to get to jobs within their metro area, but also because it would keep in line your environmental policies. As for the connections problem, i would suggest requiring employers to notify the public of job openings for a certain amount of time prior to beginning the hiring process. this would give all of those looking for jobs ample time to prepare interviews, ect. not just those who heard about it first.