Women and Change (Chapter 7)

Working mothers from Mexico struggle with their everyday lives trying to make a living off minimum wage jobs. A lot of their low wage pay is used to feed their children and pay rent for usually a small run down apartment. Their everyday challenge consists of trying to balance their children and family responsibilities as well as work full-time jobs. They are faced to develop strategies for dealing with their double work days. Some of the mothers who do work full-time struggle the most with finding child care. Working for minimum wage or below has made it difficult to pay for child care on a consistent basis. Most mothers who struggle to find child care rely on the caring labor of other women. Many immigrant women get hired to clean houses in upscale neighborhood usually make about $40 a day. Some immigrant women get hired to work as a live in household worker which is hard because they end up spending little to no time at home with their own families.