I often hear people complain about the poor and ask why can’t they just get a job. They look at the homeless with disgust and fear rather than compassion. Work harder! Go to college! They look to my path and story and tell me, “you did it.” Yes, I went from making a poverty level income to having a professional career. But, I was lucky.
I was born into a white middle class family. I had the luxury of choice. When I chose to not go to college after high school, it was an option not a mandate. When I chose to take a $20,000 pay cut to finally go to school, I had that option because I had a white middle class upbringing to fall back on.
Yes, it was hard and every monthly bill was a struggle. But it was a choice. Yes, I worked 40-70 hours each week while going to school full time. Yes, I still did it in four years and graduated with honors. But, I was lucky. I was so lucky.
Had I not had a mother to lean on when things became near impossible, I wouldn’t have made it.
Had I had children, I wouldn’t have afforded it.
Had I been unable to get student loans, I wouldn’t have even tried. Although, now as I stare at that mountain of debt, I wonder if it really was worth it.
Had I been born into a family where college was a pipe dream, I’d never have known I even had a choice.
Life and luck handed me a lot of privilege that made it possible for me to go to college and begin a career that gave me the opportunity to get ahead.
I didn’t ask for or expect handouts, but I am grateful that they are available for those that need them because they weren’t born into the situation I was.
For so many children in America a reality in which there is no choice truly does exist. Those born into abject poverty. Those born into a family where no generation has ever gone to college. Those who were brought here illegally as infants and children.
These children go to bed hungry and they wake up hungry. They miss class so they can work to provide for their families. They forgo their future in order to help their family make ends meet. They repeat the cycle with their own children because it’s all they know.
Let’s look at a quick, generic sample of how this plays out. Say they get a job at minimum wage after high school so they can start to save for college. Their pay is $7.25 per hour and they work 40 hours a week. Before taxes, they earn $290 a week; after taxes (assuming state income tax) they take home roughly $247 a week. That’s $988 a month or $12,844 a week. For fun, let’s say they add a part-time job that’s 15 hours a week and bring home an extra $100 a week to being their annual total to just over $18,000 and the monthly to $1,388.
Let’s assume the following information: they don’t live at home because their home isn’t safe or stable, they are single and don’t have a child to support. For the sake of argument, it’s highly likely that they are supporting at least one child, but let’s keep it simple.
Rent: $600
Utilities: $150
Groceries: $150
Transportation: $150 (maybe they have a car or they take public transportation – this is likely a lowball estimate)
Health Insurance: $200 (if they are fortunate enough to have the option)
Total Estimated monthly bills: $1,250
Working 55 hours a week at a full and part time job, they are left with just $138 to save for emergencies and their future. That’s assuming there is no debt and no unexpected bills. And that they don’t buy other necessities like clothing, household supplies, etc.
I wish I still had the budget sheets from when I was in this exact scenario … entire notebooks filled with numbers and attempts to make the ends meet.
Higher education is not affordable or attainable for all and that is unacceptable. Changing your stars isn’t something that can be done without blood, sweat and tears while tearing down the very walls put in place to keep you on your side of the tracks. So, telling someone to just get a job or just go to college isn’t a solution.
And when these people do break those barriers, some bemoan that they are taking our jobs and that it’s not fair.
What isn’t fair it right is tearing these people down whether they win or lose. Having compassion doesn’t make me a weak, pathetic liberal. It makes me a human being.
We need more compassion. We need more understanding. We need more support. We need more kindness. We need to do and not just say.