Living on minimum wage was an extremely stressful experience for both Morgan and Alex, and the two of them dealt with that stress in different ways, which led to arguing. In Morgan’s view, it was necessary for them to indulge themselves a little with the kids in order to de-stress. This is something that we talked about in class; the idea that you can’t live on bread alone, basically, that entertainment and relaxation are necessary parts of your life. However, this just made Alex even more stressed out and worried about their financial situation. Her response to stress was to budget and manage their finances more strictly. When Morgan started spending money on things they didn’t need, it freaked her out and she couldn’t focus on relaxing or having fun. These different viewpoints are what led to the arguing between them.
Though it turned out fine for them, because at the end of the 30 days they could go back to their normal lives, financial issues are the #1 reason for divorce. Financial issues can be a huge dividing line in relationships no matter what their income level, but that line could turn into a ravine when the stress of living paycheck-to-paycheck is also a factor. This leads to broken families, such as single mothers who are working two or more jobs to support multiple children. Single parents who have to support children have to work longer hours, which means they don’t have time for school or education for themselves, which means they can’t get a higher-level job, which means they can’t support their children financially or get themselves above the poverty line...and so on. This is just one of the ways that poverty tends to be a self-perpetuating system, and why it’s so difficult to get out of if you’re stuck relying on minimum-wage jobs for your living.
3. Do you feel that race was a factor in getting hired or finding an apartment for Morgan and Alex? What about the fact that they had no children?
Despite how difficult it was for Alex and Morgan to live on minimum wage, they actually had a remarkably easy time in finding an apartment and getting jobs. They managed to find an apartment immediately that was within their price range--the landlord barely asked them any questions, not even their credit score--and they also both managed to find jobs, Morgan even taking two jobs after getting his first. This was incredibly lucky for them, but it wasn’t just luck at play; it was privilege. Being white certainly helped them a great deal, as well as being childless and well-educated (something many people don’t have the advantage of).
Unfortunately, race plays a huge factor in getting a job. Some studies have been done showing that employers will reject resumes with “black-sounding” names significantly more often than they will reject applications--even the exact same application--that have more white-sounding names. This study done by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) found that "job applicants with white names needed to send about 10 resumes to get one callback; those with African-American names needed to send around 15 resumes to get one callback”. Because of systematic racism in America, it’s harder for black people to get hired than it is for white people, and when they do get hired, they get paid less--nearly 25% less, according to the NBER.
Even though Morgan and Alex had an extremely hard month trying to scrape up enough money to get through the month, they could have done much worse. They both had jobs, and Morgan even managed to get two. If it hadn’t been for their two hospital bills, they would have been in the black at the end of the month (I think). Imagine how much harder those 30 days would have been if even one of them hadn’t been able to get a job, even just for a week? Although they placed themselves in a disadvantaged situation, they still had inherent privileges that helped them during that time, such as their race and education.
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