bashoGWSS1

President Obama,
According to Arlie Hochschild author of What We Can do for the Working Poor, today in the United States there are millions of people living well below the poverty line. The majority of these people are single mothers, of minorities, who work full time jobs, but can never make ends meet. Hochschild has noted that people living well below the poverty line face extreme obstacles that limit them from ever climbing the socioeconomic ladder. Even with a life time of hard and constant work will these families ever rise above the poverty line. The kinds of jobs they face are minimum wage working in fast food or factories. They live in the slums where these kinds of jobs are based. They don’t have the means to go out of their environment to look for higher paying jobs. It takes time and money to travel to an environment with better paying jobs. Most of the working poor do not have the connections for better jobs, houses, or majority of opportunities. The jobs that they take have no health care plans so families have to live without. Families also have little access to affordable childcare which limits how much a parent can or cannot work. These families are ill equipped for having the “American dream� and without the basic necessities are looked down upon. Many mothers who do not have the resources are considered “bad mothers� for not providing or being gone all the time. These mothers are doing the best they can with what little society gives them, they are wrongly labeled and are working harder than most mothers for less. They are not bad they just have too many obstacles that our society has created to live a normal life.
I recommend getting rid of the obstacles would improve the conditions of the working poor. It’s easier said than done plus I don’t think it would fix the problem because I feel like we are too deep into an economic recession to do much good. I would propose programs that first of all improve government housing. I think building or restoring housing in neighbors with little opportunities can help. Bringing better jobs into these communities is nessarcy. Starting grass root jobs and programs in the communities will encourage the residents to get involved in their communities. I believe that providing free transportation to surrounding towns will also help get people to better paying jobs. I also believe that providing a better health care system is very important I think your(Obamas) health care plan is going to provide for even the poorest of poor. Providing government funded daycare programs in communities will also help parent’s be able to work more. Getting teenagers involved in community programs or internships/apprenticeship will also get these kids the connections that they lack. Programs like EITC that create subsidies for parents helps cut taxes or the NYAP that helps students get their foot in the door should be widespread and utilized. Using the money from the conservatives trillion dollar ridicules war can be given to help these families with the basic necessities. Or using money from big guns to provide better paying jobs is another great idea to stimulate the economy and help the working families.