Working-class struggle: More families living near poverty level

By Jomay Steen, Journal staff | Saturday, April 07, 2007

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Christy and Robert Christol thought they were doing well financially.

The Box Elder family had carefully established good credit scores, recently bought a surplus home from Ellsworth Air Force Base through a Rapid City bank and mortgage company and had received raises at their workplaces.

Robert works full-time at Hagen Glass installing windows and sliding glass doors. Christy holds down two jobs working about 35 hours a week at the Frances Case lunchroom and as a bus driver in the Douglas School District during the school year.

But instead of getting ahead financially, they generated more expenses.

The Christols had met South Dakota income guidelines for their children to be covered by the state’s Title 19 medical coverage. With recent raises and bonuses for their hard work, the Christols no longer met those income qualifications and lost their children’s medical benefit.

“We hit the point in our finances where we made too much money for medical coverage for our kids,” Christy Christol said.

After scrambling to find the children medical coverage, they were able to get them on Robert’s benefits package. But they could not afford full coverage.

“Right now, we have no dental insurance for the kids,” she said.

They are not alone.

The Christols are part of the working poor in this country who make enough to meet their basic needs, but worry about a major expense such as a car breaking down, a health emergency or an accident.

Since 2001, the number of South Dakotan’s living at or below the poverty rate has been steadily growing, having only stabilized in 2005 with 12 percent of the population falling below the poverty line, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Yet, the working poor have struggled to pay rising costs in health care, interest rates, heating and transportation.

Buying their first home last fall made the Christol’s budget a lot tighter.

“At least it’s ours,” she said of her house.

When one of their two cars broke down, they used their credit card to pay for repairs. It ended up being a costly bill that they have been paying interest on for months.

“If the car broke down again, we would be in big trouble,” Christy said.

With a strict budget, she writes out a grocery shopping list and sticks to it. Often, she shops between jobs while the kids are in school. It is more efficient, and it keeps her from having to refuse to buy items that her children might want that are not on her grocery list.

The Christols also have planned on using their tax refund to buy clothes for the kids.

“I’m sure there are things they would like to do, but they understand that we can’t afford it,” she said of her children, Jacob, 12, Jessica, 8, and Jasmine, 7.

Yet, for all of their saving, balancing the checkbook or figuring out how to pay bills, the stress of making ends meet weighs heavily on her mind.

“I do think how nice it would be to win a lottery,” she said.

Working 100 hours a week

Kenny Wells and Stephanie Lawrence of Rapid City work three jobs and nearly 100 hours a week to provide for their family. It still isn’t enough, they said.

Wells, 42, works about 60 hours a week as a cook at Tally’s Restaurant and part-time cook at Culver’s. Lawrence, 32, works full-time for a direct-TV service business. They each have a car and rent their home near Roosevelt Park. Lawrence and their children, Jalen, 2, Darrius, 7, and her children, Andre, 10, and Miranda, 15, are eligible for medical services at Indian Health Service Sioux San Hospital.

Wells has no medical benefits.

“If something happens to me, I don’t know what I’ll do,” Wells said.

A Chicago native, Wells first met Lawrence nine years ago at the restaurant where they worked in Seattle. Lawrence brought Wells home to rural Eagle Butte to introduce him to her family on the family ranch on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation.

“We were driving on tracks out in the middle of the prairie,” he said.

Unaccustomed as Wells was to rural life, he genuinely likes Rapid City. He believes it to be a good place to raise his children compared to his childhood neighborhood in Chicago.

“I want to raise my kids where it’s safe, and this is safe,” Wells said.

As tax time approaches, Wells and Lawrence are planning to use their refunds to pay off some bills.

But they would much rather use it for travel.

Wells’ mother, Arvetta Shirley, who now lives in Texas, hasn’t seen the grandchildren for more than two years. Wells would like to take a trip south to reintroduce his children to their grandmother.

“I hate that my kids are growing up without knowing my mother,” he said.

Money worries

Single parent Amber Hutt, 28, works as a hair stylist at Trendz Salon, where her earnings hover just above minimum wage. On her feet all day and working as many hours as she can, Hutt doesn’t receive government subsidies beyond Children’s Health Insurance Program’s coverage for her 4-year-old.

But with her rent, transportation costs and maintenance, school loan and car payments, child care, food and monthly expenses, the single mom is unable to afford her own medical insurance or to create savings in the event of problem.

“I worry about money all the time. I work and I get by, but there’s never enough to put away. It doesn’t feel like we’re getting ahead,” she said.

A native of Wyoming, Hutt doesn’t have any family living in Rapid City.

Every emergency or crisis she deals with on her own, without the help or support of family members. When gas prices climbed to $3 a gallon and more, Hutt often weighed every purchase she made against the need to drive to work and take her son to daycare.

“It seems like I’m in a hole that I can’t dig out of,” she said.

The House of Representatives recently voted to raise the federal minimum wage to $7.25 an hour, but it will be 2009 before workers see that level of pay. The legislation, introduced by Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) calls for a 41 percent increase from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour over 26 months. The increase would occur in three 70-cent phases, according to the National Restaurant Association.

South Dakota legislators are considering similar legislation this year for the state.

But some point out that delaying action may keep families from seeking medical attention or may push them further into debt.

Marnie Herrmann, marketing director at Security First Bank, said that many financially-strapped families often fall victim to payday loans, high interest rates, high check-cashing fees, or further credit card debt when there’s an extra expense such as a car needing repairs or a medical emergency beyond their budget.

“I don’t think there are legislators statewide or nationwide who get that this financial struggle is part of their day-to-day lives,” Herrmann said.

Amy Willman, director of the child-care program at Youth and Family Services in Rapid City, said that of the 264 children they serve, 66 percent are from low-income families. The agency provides services that many of the families could ill afford to pay for themselves such as learning, hearing and vision screenings as well as after-school programs.

A little more than half of the children served come from single-parent homes. Many families struggle to make ends meet.

“It’s getting harder and harder to meet those monthly bills and function as a family unit,” Willman said.

She said it wasn’t unusual that family members had more than one job to support their family. One particular single parent who Willman knows held three jobs to keep her family sheltered, fed and clothed.

“We have people out there who work awful hard. They’re trying to make the best of their family situation, but it’s hard,” Willman said.

The Christols, Wells and Hutt families earn more than minimum wage salaries, but all must follow strict budgets with little or no money left after paying their bills.

“We have a lot of bills, and we live paycheck to paycheck,” Christy Christol said of her financial situation.

Wells agreed.

He and Lawrence, who works at a cable company, recently cut their cable services to economize and stay within their budget.

“Even with all that we do, it’s a struggle,” Wells said.

Can’t afford to be sick

Willman said that when families are stretched to the limit, it only takes one event such as job lay-off, medical emergency or accident, to put a family into a tailspin.

“It completely puts the family into disarray,” she said.

Intuitively, Kenny Wells knows this to be true. It’s one of the reasons why he never calls in sick.

If he’s sick, Wells doesn’t get paid, he said. So far, he’s been lucky.

“I’m a relatively healthy man for my age,” he said.

Christy Christol rarely takes sick leave unless it’s to stay home with one of her three children when they’re ill. She can’t afford to miss work or hire someone to babysit.

“I burn my sick time up with my kids when they’re sick,” she said.

Hutt doesn’t have vacation or medical leave at her job. Every hour that she is away from her booth costs her money, which includes time caring for her preschooler when he’s ill.

“It’s one of those things. With my son, when he’s sick, I don’t have anyone to watch him. There are no benefits here, no vacation time; when you’re gone, you’re gone,” she said.

While Hutt loses income caring for her child, she still is responsible for paying for daycare on the day that he has missed at the center, along with all of her monthly bills.

“I feel you’re either low income or you’re high income. There’s nothing in between,” she said as her voice cracked. “I can get by, but barely.”

Contact Jomay Steen at 394-8418 or jomay.steen@rapidcityjournal.com.