Maureen Webber, President of Development Options Limited, an organisation that works with inner-city communities on crime and violence, economic empowerment, and people with disabilitiesm, says: Persons who earn within the minimum wage are unable to accumulate any form of wealth and therefore most do not have any kind of goals.
Most of these women who are ranked in the low-income strata develop means to supplement their income - they develop micro enterprises, buying and selling from stalls at school gates or at intersections; or they sell bags of marijuana.
Some women also have multiple partners, and sometimes have children for their various partners.
Some of the women I talk to tell me that in order to put food on the table for their children, they have to credit from community stores. Many say they would prefer to buy in bulk from a wholesale but often do not have the cash in hand.
Some household workers I know get about $3,000 a week. They hope that with the increase, that they might get a little more. To cut costs, most try to find a job close to home so that they can save on the bus fare.
To increase their earnings some become nannies on the weekends, charging about $1,000 per day to care for a child.
PARTING COMMENT
It is absolutely amazing how these people survive on the minimum wage, considering that they pay rent like $1,800 a month for a room.
One woman I spoke to has no children but her expenses exceed her salary. On a weekly basis, she spends $1,000 for rent, $600 at wholesale, $250 on bun and milk (nutri-meal that is sold at primary schools) and $550 on bus fare.
Another, also a household worker, exists on chicken or callaloo, gives $1,000 a week to her landlord then tells him she owes him and hides from him whenever she sees him.
Due to their strained financial means, they develop problems as a result of constant worry. They have problems of keeping their children each day in school. Some also have disabled children but send them to live in children's homes because they cannot support them. They understand that this is their reality.
Personally, I respect them because I cannot and I don't know how they do it and society should respect them.
DR. EARL WRIGHT, Psychiatrist attached to the Ministry of Health says: 1. Financial problems will cause stress, as everyone needs money to survive.
2. Everybody is going to be under stress at some time but people must understand how to manage their life and their situations. People under stress must mobilise to move on to make a better life for themselves.
3. There is no situation so stressful that one cannot reframe and make a positive from it. Failing to rise above your circumstances can trigger illnesses, leaving you worse off. To reframe the problem, look at: 'How can I learn from this situation? What can I do for myself in this situation?'
4. It is one's responsibility to change one's situation then the other things will fall into place, rather than thinking of what other people or the government can do for me.
5. People must take one step at a time. For example, no matter what you earn save a little bit a money, then the big goal will come.
6. In managing stress, one must go back to lifestyle choices, like exercise and eating habits. Food may be expensive but there are basic items that one can buy that can keep them healthy. For instance, most Jamaicans suffer from obesity because they make bad food choices.
ORVILLE TAYLOR, Sociologist in the Department of Sociology, University of the West Indies, Mona, says: 'KOTCHING' AND THE ABUSE OF YOUNG GIRLS
People living on the minimum wage have to decide mentally and know from early on that they cannot make any kind of long term priorities. For example, they cannot buy a house. That individual cannot pay rent, therefore they have to 'kotch a people yard'.
This 'kotching' brings with it some form of subordination. This is of particular significance, as often, the people they are staying with will take 'step' with them - abuse their daughters, for example.
Some women who have to rely on her men to pay the rent soon realise that the price they pay is the innocence of their daughters. These women are afraid to say something because they have nowhere else to live. People will often judge these women as being 'licky-licky'.
LOSS OF PRIDE A FEELING OF BEING LESS THAN
Anybody who has to depend on another to survive, undermines his or her independence. One cannot be a total man or woman if you are dependent. It would not be a surprise that there is a correlation with economic pressure and family manifestations like domestic violence. Often, situations are not equal within a home or within a relationship if 'I am spending my money on you' thus one partner feels that they can do as they please.
Most minimum wage earners cannot be upwardly mobile. They are forced to live in a particular area because they cannot afford to pay rent to live in better neighbourhoods, plus meet other living expenses, on $2,400 per week or $9,600 per month.
PARTING COMMENT
Any kind of minimum wage that is not sensitive to people's ability to change their circumstances is ridiculous. Still, the working poor has always been resilient, developing means to survive - throwing partner, remittances from overseas relatives, buying and selling, or illegal activities like selling ganja.
