A 26 year-old mother living with her husband and two children in the El Paso area.

[The author's household includes herself, her husband and her two children—a 5 year-old and an infant.]

Interviewer: How do you maintain your household on a day-to-day basis?

Author: In regards to what?

Interviewer: For example, what are the resources you use in running the household such as for putting food on the table, paying bills, and paying rent?

Author: What I do in a daily basis? Well, I get up in the morning; I get the baby ready; I get myself ready and couple of times I go and do run errands, like maybe go to pay some bills and go to appointment. Even for myself or the baby, I will make lunch. I only make breakfast for my five years-old daughter because she goes to school. Myself and my husband, we only eat lunch and dinner. And that's if we come home in the afternoon. Once Samantha gets out of school, pretty we much spend the day here at the house.

Interviewer: Do you work?

Author: No, I don't work.

Interviewer: Does your husband work?

Author: Not right now, no. He is relocating so he doesn't work right now.

Interviewer: So, right now, how are you paying your bills or paying your rent.

Author: Huh, well, those are private questions that I don't feel comfortable answering, is that okay if I don't answer them?

Interviewer: Okay, that is fine then, how much time do you have to supervise your children?

Author: Oh, all day. I'm not working.

Interviewer: Other resources that help in parenting your children?

Author: Well, no. Samantha goes to school, and then when she gets home I help her with her homework or we always do reading activities, play with card games and stuff like that.

Interviewer: Do any of your parents help out? Say for instance when you have to go out?

Author: Oh yeah, they baby-sit. Sometimes they drop her off or pick-up her from school or whatever.

Interviewer: Any assistance you receive from outside your circle of family or friends such as subsidized child care or housing subsidy?

Author: No.

Interviewer: Nothing from the government say like HUD [Housing and Urban Development].

Author: Oh, no, nothing like that, except that my baby has Medicaid.

Interviewer: Consider the following below and answer using the letter that best corresponds to your situation.

Compared to two years ago, supporting your household today is easier.

Interviewer: How are your children doing in terms of their physical health, their safety and their academic [performance] and behavior in school?

Author: Very good.

Interviewer: Their physical health is good, no problems?

Author: Nothing.

Interviewer: Is she safe at school?

Author: Yeah, it's a very good school.

Interviewer: What about her academic performance?

Author: Great!! She is a good student, not because I'm her mother, she is a smart kid, she is. She already reads, and know the numbers and adds and everything, she is a bright kid; she is a smart girl.

Interviewer: Wow! So her behavior is good?

Author: Yeah it is good.

Interviewer: So your little one is not in day care right?

Author: No, she is too young. I take care of her.

Compared to two years ago, the general well-being of your children is better.

Author: They were always okay, but I wasn't married, I remarried. But it was a lot more harder as a single parent, it was just me and my daughter Samantha, so it was a lot harder, you know, taking her to school, and then me to work and then taking her to day care. I will say 'D' [better], because what has changed is that I don't have to worry so much about who is going to watch her anymore. If I need to go to some place, my husband will take care of her.

Interviewer: How well is your household meeting its basic needs? Describe the things that affect your family's ability to meet its basic needs, including adequacy or earned income, public benefits you may use such as TANF, Medicaid, Food Stamps, SSI, and help you with basic needs that other people may provide.

Author: Very well, we don't have much to splurge, but we have everything we need.

Interviewer: Describe the things that affect your family's ability to meet its basic needs, including adequacy or earned income, public benefits you may use such as TANF, Medicaid, Food Stamps, SSI, and help you with basic needs that other people may provide. So everything that may affect this.

Author: The pay per hour could go up, but what would be able to help would be I guess help with day care. Because that is what makes it so hard, you know, because day care is expensive. If we want those types of day cares that take your kids to school and pick them up and watch them until you are at work, you have to pay 100 bucks per kid, and that is a lot of money and you cannot afford it. You have to have your "tia", your "tio", your grandma or somebody watch them and that's what gets it so complicated. So I guess I'm saying assistance with day care would be so much easier to be able to work.

Interviewer: Things that interfere with making ends meet?

Author: Losing our job, would be one thing, but right now a family emergency something you need to pay $300 to $600 [for], but [other] than that no.

Compared to two years ago, your family's ability to meet its basic needs is better.

Interviewer: How well is your housing meeting your family's needs?

Author: Good. Oh yeah, perfect, everybody has their own room.

Interviewer: Describe how well it fits the size of your family, its physical condition, the safety of the neighborhood, and how convenient it is for work, school, and child care and for visiting relatives.

Author: Great all of our relatives live maybe tops 20 minutes away, school is five minutes away, and the neighborhood is so good, its safe and the conditions of the house is practically brand new, everything is good.

Compare it [to] two years ago, your housing is much better.

Interviewer: What feelings have you been experiencing the most lately?

Author: No, just I guess, sometimes is just frustration, I get frustrated a lot.

Interviewer: Describe how this influences your work and parenting, and whether you have sought help for any of these feelings.

Author: Yes I have. I am going to Family Services and I see Pat, she helps me out with counseling. I have become a lot more patient, yeah, a lot more patient. It is because she [my daughter] is growing up, and her needs are different and so I need to accustom and by the time I get used to one mood swing, she is already changing into another one so I just need to, you know, be patient. Whatever mood she is in I am just patient.

Compared to two years ago, your emotional well-being is much better.

Author: Oh my God, much better.

Interviewer: You said you are not employed right now, right?

Author: No I am not.

Interviewer: Describe the type of job, whether the wages, benefits, and hours are/were sufficient, and what kinds of training and advancement opportunities there are/were, if any. Tell us a little about your current or last job.

Author: I always worked in the phone business, customer service. I worked for AT&T for almost six years.

Interviewer: What kind of benefits did you have at AT&T?

Author: Oh, great benefits when I was working at AT&T and I didn't need any assistance and I didn't even know what Medicaid, Medicare or Food Stamps was. As soon as I got out of school, I got into that job like a month o[r] two months and they pay extremely well. So I stop working for them about two years ago and then from then on.

Interviewer: Did they offer anything like reimbursement for your school or books.

Author: They didn't reimburse me, they just paid it. They pay your school; they pay your book and they completely paid all your health care, your family's health care. You didn't have to pay for health insurance, you didn't have to pay for school. They paid for counseling, for additional classes anything, anything.

Interviewer: Did you go to school during that time?

Author: Yeah, I did. And then, now I am still trying to go to school but now I have to apply for assistance for loans.

Compared to two years ago, the wages and benefits of the job I have now are unchanged.

Your community or neighborhood of residence: Socorro

Gender: Female

Last year of school completed: 10^th grade

GED: Yes

Race: Hispanic

Ethnicity: Mexican

Does your partner, spouse or co-parent live in the household? Yes

Do you currently receive any cash public assistance (TANF)? No

Manner in which story was originally given: Tape-recorded