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Below are the real life stories of women and working families who have been impacted by outdated laws.
I never realized what all went into the child care decision until we had our first. I teach middle school in a wealthy suburb, but since I am a teacher and my husband works for a non-profit, we don’t live where I teach. The school doesn’t provide daycare for its teachers, and all of the professional daycare providers near my school are priced for the high-income residents. And since I have some late nights (I teach band), I couldn’t ensure that I would be able to pick my kids up in time if I chose a daycare near where we live. And my husband works even farther away from where we live, so he couldn’t be relied upon.
I was able to find a lady who lives five minutes from my school who agreed to look after several teacher’s kids at her home. We pay her a fraction of what the professional places do. Problem is, I don’t think I can claim a tax credit for her since we have an informal agreement, I don’t think she’s licensed. And have no clue as to whether she is paying taxes on what we give her. But, it would cost me more to go to the place down the street, than I would get from the credit, and I really can’t afford to stay at home.
Before I got married I worked as a surgical assistant in Las Vegas for seven years. I made a pretty good living—about $20 per hour. About ten years ago I got married and we moved to North Carolina because of this job. I couldn’t earn as much there, and after we had kids, I decided to stay at home. Since then my husbands job has taken us to Oregon. As our kids have gotton older, I have toyed with the thought of going back to work, because I miss it. Problem is, I can only earn about $7 to $10 an hour in this area. When we looked at it, when my salary was added to my husbands for tax purposes, I’d face an automatic 25 percent tax rate. Add the state taxes and Social Security taxes, it was more like 40 percent. After taxes were taken out, and I paid for daycare (not cheap!), we figured it would actually cost me money to return to work. Even in a best case senario financially, I just can’t justify it.
I never fully understood the hassle health insurance could be until I graduated from college. When I was a student in Ohio, the University took care of my health care. Three years ago when I graduated, I moved to New York to try to make it as a freelance journalist. I tried doggedly to find affordable insurance, but couldn’t, even though I was young and healthy. I called my alma mater to see if they offered a plan for graduates. They did, but only if you still lived in Ohio because of state law. I finally found a journalist organization that offered plans, but even the cheapest was about $230 a month—still more than I was able to pay.
What bothered me the most was how expensive it was just because I wasn’t getting it from an employer. My best friend worked for a decent sized company that offered health benefits with before tax dollars. I was having to buy it with after tax dollars, which made even a similar priced plan more expensive. All I wanted was something that would cover me in case I needed to go to the emergency room. I figured I could afford between $50 and $100 a month. I didn’t need more than that! I couldn’t find anything for that, so I decided to risk it.
This was frightening. One time I was crossing the street and got hit by a car. I was luck that I was able to get up and walk away. I wanted to go to the hospital but figured I couldn’t afford it. Luckily my roommate was in his third year of medical residency and was able to assure me I was okay.
Since then I gave up free lance work and got a job at a PR firm that offers health insurance.
I am almost 50, but no where close to ready for retirement. Not because I still want to work, I just can’t afford it and probably never will. I’m saving as much as I can now, but I got a late start. When I was young, I didn’t really notice if my employer offered a retirement program. Most didn’t though. I also took 6 years off to take care of my kids. I was married then, so I could afford to do that, not thinking that I wasn’t saving.
When I got divorced, I had to return to work. My company began putting a small amount into a 401(k), but I couldn’t afford to contribute any myself. I left that company after 4 years, and did a three month stint at another. I wasn’t there long enough to qualify for their plan. My next job I started to think about retirement. They had a 401(k). I contributed and they matched. I also tried to save in an IRA. I stayed there awhile, but was eventually offered a job somewhere else. It turned out to be a bad idea, and I didn’t stay there long enough to meet their vesting requirements.
I took my current job a few years ago and I contribute all that the law allows. They maximum I’m allowed to put in is $13,000 a year, which isn’t a whole lot when you are 48 and there isn’t that much time left to contribute. I know I’ll get something from Social Security, but I certainly wouldn’t want to count on it. It hit me recently that what I have is what I’ll get in the end. Sad thing is, there is probably more possibility of growth in my house value than what I can put into my own retirement acccount every year. That’s what I’m counting on.
I’ve been retired for 20 years. The only income I get is from the survivor’s benefit from late husband’s Social Security. It is barely have enough income to get by.
When I was young I worked part-time to put myself through school. Then for 18 years I stayed at home looking after my family. Then in 1974 I got a job as a substitute teacher. After a number of years I got a job at a business school. I left their a while later and got a job for a large company. Over all those years I paid my Social Security taxes.
I had to retire in 1986 when my husband developed leukemia. I needed to look after him. Since I was never at one place long enough and I was a stay-at-home mom for many years, I didn’t have any pension. I collected early Social Security for about 5 years. I still was working part-time occassionally to bring in a little extra, but doing so meant that I had to forfeit $1 of my Social Security benefits for every $2 I earned.
When my husband died in 1991, I had to make a choice. I could either continue to collect my reduced Social Security, or I could claim the survivor benefit. I was larger than what I was getting, so I forfeited my own benefit. I paid in all those years, but it had no value in the end. I’d thrown in so much, with nothing to show for it.
Until a few years ago, I felt I was quite fortunate. My husband worked for a railroad company. It wasn’t a job her particularly liked, since it meant working grueling 80-hour weeks with long periods away from the family, but they had great benefits.
When our first child was a year old, I decided to get a job as a paralegal to add a little extra income. Since he was on the road a lot, though, I decided it was best to work part-time to give me the flexibility to be available for my children. This was great, as I could work two-week contracts here and there and take the entire summer off. At one point I took off for three years.
Then my husband hurt his back, and he was forced to leave the railroad on disability. His benefits lasted a while, but as they dwindled I found I had to find full time work in order to afford health benefits. I got a job at a downtown firm, but its small, and the benefits are not as good as my husband had and they don’t offer child care.