Having a job or career has always been an issue for alot of people, even if you have a family or not. No one want to be jobless and noone wants to be considered underclass. The working poor/underclass clearly means: people who are economically disadvantaged despite the fact that they are fully employed. The working poor do not have sufficient income to improve their overall lifestyle. To put that in a clearer sense, people that have a job working pay check to pay check and still struggling to make ends meet. People that can't live above there means like they want to. There are alot of different defintions for the term "Underclass". It could be defined as not having the training and skills to obtain a job. And some believe those that are part of the "Underclass" partcipate in deviant behavior, I don't think thats nice at all. So which one of those defintions could be the true defintion for "Underclass". Well can we just use all of those definition and if you fall under some of those caterogies then so be it.
According to the US Census Bureau, in 2008, 19 million people lived in working-poor families. This translates into nearly 9 percent of all American families living below 100 percent of poverty have at least one family member working. When I saw this statistics, I thought that was in 2008 I wonder what is it now. Kids are being brought into this world and some of them have no choice but to be underclass. It crazy how most of the population are under-class and/or living off of welfare and job programs to support their families.
I wonder what do children have to look forward to in the future.
From my own personal experience, people always look at the working poor or underclass and always say what we don't have. Its crazy to me because until this year I didnt know my aunt (who took care of me) was considered underclass. I say that because I got everything I wanted, our house was always clean and neat and furnished with the finest things. I always hasd the best clothes, I went on vacations every summer. I say all of tht because some working poor families still live above there means and it's ok for them. It's sad to see so many people living in conditions were it's not a health environment, mainly the children.
From my own personal experience, people always look at the working poor or underclass and always say what we don't have. Its crazy to me because until this year I didnt know my aunt (who took care of me) was considered underclass. I say that because I got everything I wanted, our house was always clean and neat and furnished with the finest things. I always hasd the best clothes, I went on vacations every summer. I say all of tht because some working poor families still live above there means and it's ok for them. It's sad to see so many people living in conditions were it's not a health environment, mainly the children.
So in closing I found a video about Working poor/Underclass. In this video its stories of homeless people and working poor families.
I think this was a great blog. It's true that having a job and a career has been an issue for many people so they are consider "Underclass".
ReplyDeleteThen there's the working poor. Well then I can consider my self Working poor/Underclass because there's plenty of times where im pay check to pay check, but then again I still have the things I want such as my home and car. I also agree that many people that consider there self underclass do participapte in Deviant behavior. For example many people take the easy way out to get fast money such as drug dealing or just taking from other's.
I think this was a great blog post. I liked how you pointed out that just because your aunt was considered underclass, that she was still able to provide you with a the items you needed, and give you a good clean home environment. I also come from a home environment where we live paycheck to paycheck, yet my parents were like your aunt, giving my sister and I the items we needed, providing a clean home environment,always had nice Christmas', and went on vacations so like you I never thought of us as underclass. Overall your post was informative, and made a good point about how people can be considered underclass but still manage to live above their means.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great blog post. I'm from an underclass family myself. I had to get a job when was 14 so help my mom make ends meet. This blog was very informative and straight forward. I loved how you used your own person experience to show that just because your underclass does not mean that you can't provide for your family or have all the things that you want and need.
ReplyDeleteI agree with those above, this is a good post. It really demonstrates the wide variety of experiences poor, underclass citizens face. For example some poor, underclass citizens live in houses and have all they need. However, on the other hand some are homeless and have lost everything. In addition while watching the video I was shocked to see a homeless man who claimed he had a Masters degree from a really good college. It really makes you wonder about the difficulty of becoming a successful individual.
ReplyDeleteYour post is very interesting and also eye-opening. The amount of people who are considered to be working poor/underclass is shocking and at the same time unsettling. My entire life I've been in a working poor family, or considered to be the working poor myself. I realize that many people that we might consider to be "okay" or financially stable, are infact considered to be underclass citizens. The video you provided also did a great job of displaying how the stigma that some may give to the homeless is sometimes unfair and that it could happen to anyone who looses a job and doesn't have people to fall back on. I appreciate you including your personal life in your post and I feel like you did a great job.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this blog post very much! It was well written and great research on the statistics to back up your research. I can't believe that 19 million Americans lived in working-poor families. But there is one thing I'd like to argue. There are some, and I say some poor/underclass people that live off of welfare but yet have the nicest clothes and go on vacations and some that even go to private schools. But as for myself I never had the nicest clothes growing up and never went on vacation, my parents would always save every penny they earned so we can live a comfortable life. So I feel the government does what they can and it is entirely up to the people what they want to do. But yet, there are some people that are less fortunate and lose their jobs and homes and have to work 10 times harder then the average American.
ReplyDeleteThis blog is very interesting, but your right it is hard for people to find jobs or a career out here yes most are living from paycheck to paycheck but there doing what they have to do to survive.I also agree with Hilary that i cant believe either that there is 19 million Americans lived in working-poor families. She is also right that some people do live off welfare but yet have the nicest clothes everything. Also their is some that work 20 times harder for the nice things,but i do feel that some people take advantage of welfare at times. Also the research for this blog was wonderful i learned many new things.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion this post exemplifies the problems that capitalism poses to the "ordinary" american people. in capitalism we a taught that having a stable job provides security, so we work our hardest to get a job. in return we are stuck in the vicious cycle called capitalism. we sell our labor to those in charge and get bills and car payments in return.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great post! I agree with everything you are saying because ive grown up in the same type of household. My mom raised me and my younger brother alone yet we still got everything that we wanted amd had a nice house and clothes. We never had to live off of welfare or anything to that extent but sometimes it bothers be when people say all minorities are always on welfare and things like that when it's not always true. I think the government also gives welfare to the wrong people at times because most people use welfare as a way to get out of working and people who struggle often dont get to have welfare when the really need it.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your post! Like most of us, I can really relate to what you said. I never looked at my family as being “underclass” because as you said, my parents always provided with all the necessary things I needed while growing up. I always had nice clothes, always had food on the table, and we always went out on the weekends. I don’t think we should be categories as “underclass” because over all I don’t think money is everything, but anyway good job on the post!
ReplyDeleteI liked your point on how you didn't know your aunt would be considered the underclass since you didn't necessarily see the negative aspects associated with being from an underclass family. However, many other people do see these things associated with an underclass family even if they aren't on the surface. Just because of that label("underclass") you will always have a negative connotation attached to your upbringing. It makes me think that our categories are to broad when explaining social class. Who sets the bar on what amount of money you need to be in a particular class? Who says that just because you go to an opera show may make people think your in a higher class? Maybe you just don't like opera! When can we stop thinking about class for a moment and see people as people?!
ReplyDeleteWhat I found most intriguing was the first man interviewed in the video. Finding out that he had so much education was astounding and very saddening. It goes to show that losing everything can happen so quickly. What startles me most is that I figure that once you lose everything and you are at the bottom rung, it is so much more difficult to build it back up. What happens to the people that want to try to make a beter life for themselves, but can not possibly due to the system and how it is run.
ReplyDeleteIt is very hard to work your way up, sometimes it has to do with patient and working hard but sometimes that's not enough either. For me moving out here on my own paying everything by myself is extremely stressful everyday to me. All i want is education but with full time class and job is difficult to be focus at times. Its not easy to find another job that is stress free cause not all jobs can fit my schedule and pay me enough to let me go day by day. So I somewhat know what it is like to go from scratch and struggle trying to catch up to just what is enough for you to get by.
ReplyDeleteWow such a powerful post ! It wasnt until I read this post did I stop to think , wow some of these traits describe me ! Am I apart of the workign poor? All my life I recognized myself as being aprt of the middle class, my mother and father bot had good paying jobs. We were doing alot better than others in my family, my mother never allowed me to "want" for anything I always "had". But now that I am older and have my own job, I too live pay check to pay check. Without the help of my family I think I would be like the peoeple in the post. This just goes to show me when I get in the real world I have to work harder to make more money so I wont be living in a shelter. This post was an eye opener and like I stated in the begingging wonderful job on the post.
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