Reality Check Conference Examines Gap Between Income and Housing Costs
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Reality
Check Conference Examines Gap Between Income and Housing Costs
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By
Leigh DuPuy
“How long will America be a nation divided between gated communities on one hand and trailer parks on the other?” asked Barbara Ehrenreich, journalist and author of Nickeled and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America, at UMass Boston’s conference “Reality Check: Attaining Economic Security for Massachusetts Families” on January 18. The day-long forum of panel discussions, workshops, and Ehrenreich’s keynote address examined the gap between incomes and the cost of living for families living in Massachusetts.
The conference, held at Holy Cross College in Worcester, was sponsored by the Center for Social Policy (CSP) and the McCormack Institute of Public Affairs. UMass Boston researchers have long been concerned about the growing crisis in housing and employment needs, revealing studies which found that 18 percent of all children in Massachusetts are poor and more employed families with children are routinely turning to emergency service providers for food and housing assistance.
One of the conference’s themes was the inability “to make the numbers work,” for families to support themselves, a challenge Ehrenreich explored in her book. She discussed her experiences as an undercover journalist trying to live in a low-wage world. She lived in three different locations – Key West, Florida; Portland, Oregon; and the Twin cities area in Minnesota – and worked as a housekeeper, waitress, retail employee, nursing home assistant, and maid. She found herself unable to support herself even with two or more jobs and needed to live in residential hotels, where many families lived in one room, without a refrigerator or stove.
She cited a recent study from the Economic Policy Institute which revealed at the time of the study that 29 percent of Americans were facing significant hardship and the statistic that those making eight dollars an hour and less were twice as likely to be laid off as people making more. Ehrenreich pointed out that the study was done before September 11 and the subsequent recession. “Terrorism is not the only urgent challenge facing the nation,” she said. “We need reliable income support, universal health care, and affordable housing.”
CSP’s Julia Tripp echoed the call to action in her musical presentation, “Bring American Home.” UMass Boston’s Donna Haig Friedman, Randy Albelda, Paul Watanabe, and Carol Hardy-Fanta were among the many participants and advocates in workshops and panel discussions which examined the latest research, and explored ways to communicate the issues and develop solutions.
Barbara Ehrenriech, author and advocate (Photo by Harry Brett)