The woman I chose to discuss is Debra Hall. She is a 39 year old mother on welfare forced to work because the welfare reform act of 1996 imposed time limits to receive benefits and work requirements were enforced to either get a job or do job training. Debra admitted that she had no real life skills and had dropped out of community college. She was a teen mom at 18 years old who has been on welfare ever since. Debra opted for job training and because she limited herself based on her comfort level of clothing, she chose warehouse work. In the program, Debra learned to type, operate the UPS shipping system and drove a forklift. For the first time in her life, Debra felt motivated and felt part of the working force.
Some of the reasons that she cannot escape poverty is because she lacks reliable transportation to get to work. Another being, that even though she has gained some basic work skills and forklift certification, there is no job openings where she can apply her skills. Mostly men dominate warehouse positions. Another reason is she is trapped in a low wage job in a bakery with no promotion/advancement opportunities.
While working at the bakery, her position was unstable, her hours were shifted, and she was put in machines with no proper training. This caused her anxiety and stress. Also, she didn't receive any support or advice when she inquired about trying to advance in her job.
In the end, Debra continued working in the bakery despite her minimum wage, no advancement opportunity, and work related stress. "Her fellow workers in the bakery were trapped in gloom. Nothing there encouraged her", her own employers warned her about staying too long in the job.
Shipler, D. (2005). The Working Poor: Invisible in America. New York: Vintage Books.
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