The following is an excerpt from our February issue:

By Michael Roy Hollihan

Some numbers are stark. One in eight Memphians live at or below the poverty level. An estimated thirty percent of all Memphis children live in poverty. But some numbers are slippery. So it is with the working poor. As many as one in four Memphians belong to the vague category of the working poor. These are individuals who have jobs but have been unable to rise above the poverty line. They live paycheck to paycheck and are one automobile problem or medical emergency away from complete disaster. On the ladder of economic success, they are one rung above ground.

Most Memphians know the working poor are out there – they’ve seen pictures in the papers or stories on the news. But for the middle-class and wealthy in Memphis, it’s a problem of others. Not me, someone else. Not here, somewhere else.

Large swathes of the city are filled with the working poor: North Memphis, Downtown, Midtown, and southwest Memphis. Drive the major traffic arteries and you see hints of them. Get onto streets like McLemore, South Third, Chelsea, Summer Avenue, Danny Thomas, Raines, and Neely, become immersed in the neighborhoods, and the impression is inescapable – we are failing ourselves. Whole neighborhoods, whole subdivisions of substandard or worn-out housing, ruined streets and alienated, lost people. We may be a top twenty metropolis, but we are a top three economic disaster for our residents.

One of the most pressing areas of concern is the issue of health care. Rarely do the working poor have the luxury of indulging an illness. Being home sick means lost wages or even a lost job. Either way, it is an economic catastrophe. Persistent illness or disease, or lifestyle-associated diseases like obesity and hypertension can reduce productivity or even limit job opportunities. Meager gains melt away. Chronic problems prevent forward progress.

While some jobs, especially corporate or government routinely offer health benefits, employment at small businesses or service/distribution sectors often means no health coverage. Although insurance companies offer rock-bottom basic packages for as low as $60 per month, even this can be too much. And that assumes that potential customers are even aware of these offerings. Most working poor simply do not get exposure to health care insurance options unless it intersects their lives. (more…)