The Mathematics of Poverty II: The Children

     Another big lesson I’ve learned is that single parenthood is indeed “a miracle” as Morgan Freeman suggests in the movie “Bruce Almighty.”  $8.00 per hour is a full $0.75 above minimum wage, and produces a monthly net income of around $1,089 after taxes.  H.U.D. (and most sensible financial advisors) recommends a family never spend more than 30% of their total monthly income on housing.  What this means is a single mom should spend no more than $327 a month on housing.  Here in Anderson South Carolina that means a fundamental choice: safe or affordable.  The typical median rent for a two bedroom apartment here is around $425 a month.  Notice we haven’t even started calculating child care, medical expenses, transportation costs, or food and clothing in this equation.

This brings me to another lesson: helping families, especially single moms with more than one child, is a whole lot harder than most people think.  “Go get a job” is no answer—some of our moms have a job and are looking for a 2^nd job but have no idea how to pay for the extra childcare required for their 1^st job let alone the 2nd.  Their “job” also does not let them afford reliable transportation, quality childcare, safe housing, or the occasional ‘treat’ from a local fast food restaurant.  Unreliable transportation, poor living conditions, and unreliable childcare make a person use more sick days, be late for work more, and generally find it more difficult to maintain secure employment.  Are you beginning to see the cycle?  Add to this the fact that local public transportation does not allow a person to work before 8am or after 5pm (forget weekends), and childcare for 2^nd and 3^rd shift hours is non-existent—an equation begins to emerge.

     After a few years of this experience, many moms either “shack up” with someone (usually not someone who is a good example of “loving companion”) because it makes good financial sense and it beats suffering through this long-term hardship alone; or, they choose to give up and stop fighting for a quality lifestyle and just “exist,” being pushed around by circumstance and chance.  In my humble but accurate opinion, neither option is acceptable.

I am not saying we need to re-create the welfare state, or somehow redistribute wealth to make things “fair.”  I recognize some people—even single moms—make poor life choices that land them in circumstances that make life more difficult.   In Sands of Iwo Jima (1949), John Wayne's character, Sergeant Stryker, says, "Life is tough, but it's tougher if you're stupid." My philosophy professor used to say something similar: “reality tends to punish those who violate its tenets.”  I am not arguing we need to adjust the world so that these two quotes are false; what I am saying is there are some very small things we can do to make a profound difference in the circumstances that surround children who are growing up in this unstable, difficult environment.

     One of the most painful lessons I have learned centers on the children.  Children in impoverished families have made NO CHOICES, bad or otherwise, to LAND THEM IN POVERTY.  The children of these families have done absolutely nothing to deserve where they are or the difficult childhood they face.  Many of the adult parents have not only paid for their mistakes but continue to do so every single day.  At what point does the difficulty of their life atone for any poor choices they have made?  More importantly, what atonement are the children in these families making?  What have they done to deserve their situation? In my next post I’ll make some suggestions about how we might begin to shift the odds to help poverty stricken children come out on top.

The Mathematics of Poverty I

            So having served as Executive Director of a homeless shelter for children and their families for close to two years now, I have learned a lot.  The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that the so called “welfare state” no longer exists.  People continually complain about generational welfare, people who “live off the system,” and people who take advantage of government help.  I will be the first to say that there are a few people who have learned to navigate the system and use it to their advantage—but this is mainly in social security disability and usually not without the help of a very skilled attorney. 

“Welfare” as it is popularly known no longer exists.  The Federal Government offers “Temporary Assistance for Needy Families” or TANF through different state agencies.  In South Carolina, it is known as “Family Independence,” and not only has a 24 month time limit, but also a lifetime limit of 5 years.  Simply put, no family can receive cash assistance for more than 5 years in their lifetime.  Federal mandates require this 5 year lifetime limit, so it is nationwide.  In South Carolina, those receiving Family Independence must complete weekly job search requirements and volunteer 30 hours a week at a local non-profit or other such agency.  This cash assistance is no large sum of money either, typically less than $300 a month per family—ever tried to live on $300 a month?

            I think it is important to point this out because if we are going to help homeless families, we first need to get individuals and communities to understand that the families we seek to help are not looking for a handout or trying to take advantage of the generosity of strangers—they are families in serious need and do not have the resources or support system to become self-sustaining without assistance.

        I would like to spend the next several weeks outlining some of the problems I see facing families in the Upstate of South Carolina and how we might go about helping make those problems more navigable.  My goal today is to help foster the understanding that while there will always be those who are looking to take advantage of charity, there are an increasing number of hard working, well-meaning families who are falling into dire situations that they cannot get out of on their own.  More importantly, the children who grow up in those families have done nothing to put themselves into their dire situation nor can they help themselves get out.  So the next time you hear a political pundit spewing on about “ending the welfare state” remember—generational welfare no longer exists and what has replaced it are desperate families who want work for what they have and perhaps give their children a better life.