I think when talking about the working poor one cannot generalize or put it in terms of black and white. It's just not that simple. With so many employers downsizing to cut costs, including so they don't have to pay for health coverage for their employees, there would seem to be a glut of available cheap labour out there. And cheap is the operative word. It's not so simple as just relocating or finding a better job. If the high paying employers are not hiring fulltime employees, so they can pay part-time rates with few or no benefits, people are stuck with what they can find. How many cab drivers have you met who were fully qualified engineers, or doctors, or teachers, but cannot find work in these times.

If you're working 12 hours a day at two part-time jobs, each paying between, say $6.00 and $9.00 per hour, and the money you earn just gives you enough to keep a roof over your family's heads, food on the table and maybe, just maybe, clothes on their backs, is it conceivable that this person would have the thousands of dollars required to relocate?

And where do they locate to? Big cities are expensive to live in. Small towns are too, due to lack of services or the cost to ship food to the grocery stores. I don't know about in the States, but up here, the further you are from the main shipping city, the more expensive basic necessities are. So is it really cost effective to spend the thousands of dollars required to move, when it's going to be more expensive once you get there?

It's very easy for us to look down from our vaunted heights and judge that someone is simply not trying hard enough. You have to walk a mile in someone's shoes to truly understand their situation. Sadly, I fear too many of our KA family have walked in those shoes.

Warm hugs,

Kat

A life lived in fear is a life half lived.
"Strictly Ballroom"