Stereotypes About Not Working
Published July 16, 2009 @ 10:17AM PT
This Sacramento (CA) story on the state budget issues intersect disability services came to my attention mostly because of its coverage of the protests last week. But it was another topic embedded in the article that actually grabbed my attention.
They [officials and advocates for the poor] also tried to dispel the stereotype that welfare recipients are not trying to find full-time work.
In a recent opinion piece he wrote for the Los Angeles Times, Schwarzenegger said only 22 percent of the 525,000 families receiving temporary financial and employment assistance are meeting the minimum work requirements.
"That means 78 percent aren't trying to get on their feet at all," the governor wrote. "They're not working, not looking for work, not seeking job training, not performing community service and not pursuing an education."
Advocates said the governor's measurement was flawed because it does not count part-time work and ignores the reality that low-wage earners don't have control over their hours. They said the governor was only perpetuating the stereotype that recipients are lazy.
There is an additional flaw in the assumption that those who actually are not looking for work are by default not doing so because they are lazy. There are a number of other reasons why people may not be looking for work, just for quick and incomplete example:
1. Financial, health, or safety disincentives like losing medicaid benefits that are necessary for survival; i.e. issues with the system.
2. Being unable to both manage basic life activities and work at the same time; i.e. not an issue, just a fact for some.
3. Being so discouraged by the process of job seeking that one gives up; i.e. issues with discrimination and lack of access.
Stereotypes are not just bad because they are personally damaging to people. Stereotypes are bad because perpetuating them ensures that real change to fix problems is never achieved.
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Comments (3)
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Dora is committed to improving quality of life for individuals on the autistic spectrum--including herself! She is Co-director of the Academic Autistic Spectrum Partnership in Research and Education and a member of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network's Board of Directors.
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Two other huge problems for low-income families are lack of reliable transportation and lack of reliable child care.
Schwarzenegger should go back to making movies.
Posted by Meg Evans on 07/16/2009 @ 01:01PM PT
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The transportation thing is one that people just don't seem to get even when it's pointed out. If all the applicable jobs are inaccessible via public transit, they might as well not exist.
Posted by Cody Boisclair on 07/16/2009 @ 02:23PM PT
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It's much easier to assure that your applicants can perform the task of driving a car by being in a place where only those who can will be applying, than it is to write the question on the aplication form and risk having it said that you are discriminating.
Overt discimination is thought to be unsophisticated and unsympathetic while discrimination that is cleaverly disquised is seen as practical to the survival of industry.
Posted by Ed none on 07/16/2009 @ 05:18PM PT
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