Topic > The Nickel and Dime Working Poor by Barbara Ehrenreich

Often, child care costs can exceed the income of low-wage workers, making work, especially in a job with no advancement potential, a economically illogical activity. On 30 Days, one of Morgan's co-stars had four children, while he had none, and supports them on the same minimum wage. However, some single parents may rely on their social networks to provide free or below-market child care. There are also some free child care options provided by the government, such as the Head Start program. However, low-wage jobs force workers to accept irregular hours for these free options, available only at certain times, which can limit parents' ability to accept jobs that require night shifts. In this situation, in fact, it becomes even more difficult for a low-wage single parent to receive free child care. In fact, some employers won't hire someone unless they have "open availability," which means being available to work at any time, on any day. This makes it difficult for workers to arrange child care and take on second jobs. Additionally, for minimum wage workers, work hours can vary greatly from week to week, making it difficult for them to effectively budget and save.