JACKSON, Miss. — More than half of families with young children in Mississippi are considered low income families. Laura Speer Associate Director for Policy Reform and Advocacy with the Annie E. Casey foundation says these families face major hurdles on a day to day basis such as unpredictable jobs, insufficient income, access to high quality child care, and good schools. She says it is also harder for children in this families to be prepared for starting school.
“When look at the data for Mississippi, we find that a significant percentage of families that are low income in the state don’t have more than a high school diploma – In Mississippi it is about 78 percent,” said Spear
Speer says the foundation is trying to create an awareness so employers will adopt time off policies so low income employees can better care for their children without losing pay. “Low income parents, many of whom are working in service industry jobs, they often are stuck with the choice between staying home and not getting paid or losing their job, or sending that child to school.”
She also says many programs that are available now to help out individuals focus on helping the child and the parents separately and do not look at the family holistically.
For more information about how low income families Mississippi compare to other states at http://www.aecf.org/
