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After her stepfather died, Monique Williams' mother went "out of control." So the teenager from Hammond, Indiana rented her own apartment and worked two jobs. She graduated from high school, but didn't have the money for college. Instead, she worked a pair of part-time jobs. Monique's job at a grocery store deli paid $7.29 per hour and her job at Wendy's paid $5.90 per hour. "It wasn't that much ... that's why I had to keep working," she says.
This story is part of the Promise Commentary series, an intimate look at the promises candidates are making this election year. All of them are free, compliments of CPB and the 100s of local stations who contributed to the PRX campaign audio archive. Check them out: http://www.prx.org/articles/1474
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Piece Description
After her stepfather died, Monique Williams' mother went "out of control." So the teenager from Hammond, Indiana rented her own apartment and worked two jobs. She graduated from high school, but didn't have the money for college. Instead, she worked a pair of part-time jobs. Monique's job at a grocery store deli paid $7.29 per hour and her job at Wendy's paid $5.90 per hour. "It wasn't that much ... that's why I had to keep working," she says. This story is part of the Promise Commentary series, an intimate look at the promises candidates are making this election year. All of them are free, compliments of CPB and the 100s of local stations who contributed to the PRX campaign audio archive. Check them out: http://www.prx.org/articles/1474
Timing and Cues
Suggested host intro: "The economy is a big concern this election year and Barack Obama and John McCain are doing everything they can to win struggling voters to their side. Independant produce Todd Melby gets the straight talk from a woman working 2 jobs and still not making ends meet.
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Colleen Devine
Posted on September 02, 2008 at 07:30 PM | Permalink
Review of Two Jobs, Still Not Making It
This is a great transitional piece for a news story that talks about our former economy compared to our current one, provided of course, that our current one improves by way of a livable minimum wage or similar legislation that cuts the entry level worker some slack.
The interviewer manages to paint a very real picture of a worker frustrated by a system that doesn't get just how bleak some circumstances are, one in which empty promises are all too often made. Working just to live? It's an unfortunate truth for a lot of Americans who don't want a hand out, but just an opportunity to get ahead. This is particularly relevant for older manufacturers whose jobs have gone overseas and who find themselves unskilled, unmarketable, and unwanted.