General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSlow down mummy~
This is a repost**** It will seem like new to you though, only two read it the last time.
Slow down mummy, there is no need to rush, slow down mummy, what is all the fuss? Slow down mummy, make yourself a cup tea. Slow down mummy, come and spend some time with me. Slow down mummy, let's put our boots on and go out for a walk, let's kick at piles of leaves, and smile and laugh and talk. Slow down mummy, you look ever so tired, come sit and snuggle under the duvet and rest with me a while. Slow down mummy, those dirty dishes can wait, slow down mummy, let's have some fun, let's bake a cake! Slow down mummy I know you work a lot, but sometimes mummy, its nice when you just stop. Sit with us a minute, & listen to our day, spend a cherished moment, because our childhood is not here to stay!
x Poem by Rebekah Knight at https://www.facebook.com/slowdownmummy1
APRIL 15, 2013 | EDUCATION, ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY
THE FACE OF AMERICAN POVERTY TODAY
Are you a single mom? Have a job? Youre probably poor.
Part 1 of a 3-Part Series
By Amanda L. Freeman
"Leaning in" and smashing glass ceilings are great goalsbut they are the last things on the minds of 27 million American women struggling just to hang on to their homes and feed their kids. These women make up the demographic that is the most likely to be poor in the U.S.: the single mom.
But here's the surprising thing: Most of those single moms are working. They remain mired in poverty because they tend to have low-wage jobs without benefits or opportunities for advancementand because the U.S. has one of the skimpiest social safety nets in the western world. And the Great Recession has only made things worse.
snip
Single mom = poor kids
Through this Great Recession, the arms of poverty stretched far and wide, beyond inner cities and rural areas like Appalachia. Hunger is not just the third world problem; only three other countries in the developed worldMexico, Chile and Turkeyhave a higher child poverty rate than the United States.
Single mothers are the most likely demographic group to be poor. And half of all mothers will spend some time as sole parents, though many didn't plan on it. Around 47 percent of kids living with a single mother are poor, four times the poverty rate for the children of married couples, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
For a single mother and a child, the poverty line hovers around $15,000, which roughly coincides with the minimum wage in most states. Making things worse, millions more earn just above the poverty line, disqualifying them for benefit programs. Meghan, a low-income single mom from rural Pennsylvania, felt hopeless when her family was rejected for public assistance because their income was seven dollars over the state guideline. "We were working so hard, but we just couldnt pay the bills every month," she says.
snip
Read More
http://womenintheworld.org/stories/entry/the-face-of-american-poverty-today
The poem, like the story makes me want to weep because...
"Hunger is not just the third world problem; only three other countries in the developed worldMexico, Chile and Turkeyhave a higher child poverty rate than the United States
What the hell is wrong with us!
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)pure beauty. i got to slow down.
thank you
sheshe2
(83,781 posts)The image is breathtakingly beautiful.
I majored in art and painted. One canvas was written up in a local paper at a student art show. Georgia O'Keeffe like. A pencil sketch of a sleeping child hangs on my bedroom wall.
My family has many of them. The rest I tossed in the trash after my divorce much to my regret.
Stardust
(3,894 posts)daleanime
(17,796 posts)ZombieHorde
(29,047 posts)Kath1
(4,309 posts)Spent so much time working as a single mom. Was so exhausted when I got home. Missed out on a lot of my daughter's life. I'm so gald that, as an adult, she understands.
sheshe2
(83,781 posts)your daughter does as well Kath1. You raised her well.
Kath1
(4,309 posts)I hope I raised her well. Moving in with her boyfriend - hard to wrap my mind around it but I love it. I gave her the freedom I did not have. Would have been different had I stayed married to the staunch Catholic. She now understands, appreciates and thanks me.
sheshe2
(83,781 posts)Yes you raised her well Kath1!
I was feeling a little maudlin. She was in her early teens during the divorce and she became mature before her time. That sucks to me. We were much more like friends than mom and daughter during her teens.
But on the positive side, she is outspoken, very caring, very liberal, feminist, anti-war and intelligent. I guess I did OK.
She has NO Catholic guilt. Despite my VERY Catholic family's opinion, that is one of my best gifts to her.
What the hell is wrong with us? It's not us, sheshe.
The question should be: What is wrong with the Republican Party and the 1% they represent?
They would answer: Nothing.
The real answer, however, can be answered with another question:
What can we expect from the sociopaths that seem to hold sway over everything in our lives?
We are not the problem. We are the proponents of the solutions.
Greed poisons our lives in this country and it is sickening.
if we required 100% participation by all citizens, of age and sound mind, to vote in every election and gave them 5 voting days to get the job done (Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-Tue consecutively), things might eventually get pointed in the right direction. Oh yeah, and go back to paper ballots you stick into the slot of a locked box after filling them out. Oh yeah, and get civics back in high school curriculum. And make Civics a prerequisite in any school of higher learning, including one/two-year technical training schools.
I could go on and on.
Kath1
(4,309 posts)I REALLY hope things do get pointed in the right direction!