Short Post 3/31

Mink’s article coincides with exactly what my economics professor has been discussing on poverty and welfare.  The problem with the new laws legislated by Clinton, is that people can only be on welfare for five years of their lives. This is unrealistic for most single women with children facing poverty. The problem is that a woman’s work in the home is not technically work, in that the woman receives a wage for her duties. As much as I don’t see women ever being paid ever to be a stay at home mother, the Personal Responsibility Act has made it harder for women to move out of poverty and get in to the labor force. Something I found really interesting was how Mink sheds light on the topic of care giving for other families. I never really thought about how women are paid to take care of children from a different family, but not their own. These women are doing the exact same work, yet they are being rewarded with money for it. This is because of the ideas many people hold about housework/ being a stay at home mother. Mink discusses how within the feminist movement there are different beliefs. She says how middle-income feminists believe a woman’s being able to earn a wage grants her independence. I agree with Mink that women in poverty need to be helped with government programs and feminists acting for them by activism. However, the subject of welfare is extremely controversial and emotional. For example, the inequality gap in America is $60 billion. Moreover, the government spends about $500 billion on welfare programs. When congressmen look at poverty, they had to account for the emotional side and the political side.

The emotional side strikes in when you hear stories such as Rosanna Eang’s. I found her story to be captivating and extremely moving. The fact that young children are subjected to that type of childhood, in America, is extremely upsetting. Her perseverance wowed me and enlightened me to realize no matter how hard I try to empathetic and understand what growing up in poverty would be like, I will never know. Until you actually experience something, it is harder to fight for a cause. Most policymakers have never experienced poverty and so they allot a certain amount of welfare thinking that will get them out of poverty. I cannot even imagine how Eang might feel about her accomplishments. I like to think that I am a strong-willed person and would be able to handle/survive any adversity handed to me. But after hearing how her mother slaved and slaved over her family and countless jobs, I really don’t know where I would stand when faced with poverty. What is even more upsetting, is how much poverty plays a role in America. I cannot even imagine the role it plays in a third world country such as Cambodia.