Blog # 7

Julia applied at the Agency for Child Development for subsidized day care, but there was already a long waiting list so she was placed on the bottom of that list. If she would have been working or going to school then she would have been considered before most of those on the waiting list because her child care would have been listed as a priority. Julia then heard from a friend about Leida having a day care at Mayer House so she took Jacqueline and Hope there but not long after they started going there they had to end it because the Welfare program’s system was late on making payments. She then had Sonia watching Jacqueline and her cousin watching Hope but she began to need Jacqueline to stay longer than the other kids stayed because of her work hours. She had to pay Sonia more money to keep Jacqueline longer and it was more then she had to pay her cousin, which led her to more money problems. She then applied for food stamps and she was accepted to get food stamps and the cash aid that came with the food stamps but the Welfare Department failed to give her the cash aid when she was supposed to receive it. Minimum wage jobs do not allow women to further themselves in more jobs so they can pay the bills and keep their children in child care. They are limited on the time they can work and how long they work; it is sometimes hard for them to get one full time job just because they have to be on a certain schedule. “Julia and Jacqueline’s story illustrates the fast-changing nature of child care and the interactions between Jacqueline’s care , Julia’s work situations, and changes in their domestic life” (Chaudry, 93) Child care isn’t convenient and worry free like some of the lucky people, there are those that struggle to work because their kids needs to be supervised. Chaudry states, “It was when Jacqueline was in her most stable care arrangements that Julia was able to move from progressively better internship experiences into a full-time job and off of welfare” (94).