Written by Jennifer Cooper on September 21, 2009 – 12:17 am
Day 60–Sept. 1 As if working for minimum wage isn’t bad enough, a new study, Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers, a survey of more than 4,000 low-wage workers, suggests “many employment and labor laws are regularly and systematically violated.” The 2008 survey of 4,387 workers in low-wage industries in the three largest U.S. cities—Chicago, Los Angeles, [...]
Written by Jennifer Cooper on September 9, 2009 – 4:21 pm
Day 68–Sept. 9 Coming soon!
Written by Jennifer Cooper on September 5, 2009 – 7:35 pm
Day 64–Sept. 5 Lately I find myself curious as to why so many people just accept their fate as one of the exploited working poor. Why do people not rebel against what will surely be a life of endless struggle? As I’ve been reading Barbara Ehrenreich’s “Nickle and Dimed,” I have been struck by the [...]
Written by Jennifer Cooper on September 4, 2009 – 7:17 pm
Day 63–Sept. 4 As it turns out, keeping up with the Joneses may be out of reach for 1 in 4 American families. That is the estimated number of working families who are low income. A report by The Working Poor Families Project, Still Working Hard, Still Falling Short, found that in 13 states 33 [...]
Written by Jennifer Cooper on August 4, 2009 – 3:11 pm
Day 32–August 4, 2009 For two weeks, 98 miles, I walked on an injured ankle. Today, after a visit to an orthopedist, an x-ray, and an MRI, I learned that I have a stress fracture of my left tibia. I have been walking on a broken leg. So, instead of just taking a couple weeks [...]
Written by Jennifer Cooper on July 31, 2009 – 6:30 pm
Day 28–July 31, 2009 Strictly speaking homelessness means not having a home. But there are many ways a person can be homeless; staying with family or friends; living in transitional housing or shelters; or simply getting by on the street, in cars, or in tents. Regardless, homelessness is the result of a breakdown in community. [...]
Written by Jennifer Cooper on July 29, 2009 – 10:46 pm
Day 26–July 29, 2009 (rest in Pittsburgh, 0.0 miles) Since I began my walk not a month ago I have climbed mountains and walked beside farm fields. I have met amazing and generous people and made lifelong friends. I’ve walked through impoverished communities and been touched as those with almost nothing pulled money out of [...]
Written by Jennifer Cooper on July 25, 2009 – 8:58 am
Day 22–July 25 (rest in Greensburg, PA, 0.0 miles) I have never understood what it is that empowers some of us to always stand up for what is right, regardless of the consequences, while others stand idly by at the injustices of this world. While I was at Target in Greensburg yesterday I met John [...]
Written by Jennifer Cooper on July 24, 2009 – 2:24 pm
Day 21–July 24 (rest in Greensburg, PA, 0.0 miles) As of today the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. It is the third and final increase in a phased hike in the minimum wage that began in 2007. Prior to 2007, the minimum wage had not seen an increase since it was set at [...]
Written by Jennifer Cooper on July 22, 2009 – 11:37 pm
Day 19–July 22 (Latrobe, PA-Greensburg, PA, 11.4 miles) For whatever reason, since I have been walking I have not gone a day without eating ice cream. Some days I find myself stopping for ice cream more than once a day. So when as I came across Peaches ‘n Cream on Route 30 in Greensburg there [...]