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 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 [...]
Written by Jennifer Cooper on July 21, 2009 – 4:47 pm
Day 18–July 21 (rest in Latrobe, PA, 0.0 miles) For the second day since I injured my ankle I decided it was too painful to walk. Yet, while I have the luxury to stay and rest, many people do not. One woman I met a few days ago told me of her battle with Crohn’s [...]