NJRCL Report II

In our second part of our extended blog about the NJRCL report, I will try to make connections between the NJRCL report and the realities theses families, families in Unequal Childhoods, might face if they lived in Essex County, New Jersey. The poor families in Unequal Childhoods would have the same problems living in Essex County, NJ: unable to make rent payment, unable to find childcare, and unable to find food for their family. The biggest problem that the poor families like Katie Brindle and Harold McAllister's mother faced in the book was trying to make rent payment. A great percentage of the family's budget went to rent payment. In comparison to the report, rent payment makes a higher percentage of the total budget of the poor families in the book, even though they live on government assistant. Rent strangled the family's budget such so necessities like clothing for children were sacrificed for the greater good of having a place to live. Second, childcare was somewhat of a problem. Even though they had relatives that provided childcare when they were absent, sometimes childcare became a problem like when Miss. Brindle was unable to find someone to take care of little Brindle. She had no choice but to take little Brindle with her to collect her food stamps. As she explains to us in the book, collecting food stamps at the government building is a hassle: you have to take the bus, and wait in lines for hours.

One difference between the book and the report is the role food in the lives of the poor families. Food was a major concern for the poor families on the book. Even though they received government assistant like food stamps, food was still a problem. There wasn't that much food at home; when the families had food, caution was taking to salvage the food until the next batch of food stamps arrives. I believe living in Essex County would have been similar for the poor families in the book.