Narratives are malleable, adapting and expanding to accommodate new information and experiences.210 Certain events
strain their coherence; in the context of self-sufficiency and finances, homelessness is an example of one such event.
Some respondents experienced a narrative rupture, and their prevailing narrative transformed from one of self-sufficiency to one of deserving recipient. This transformation was spurred by an event or struggle that was so hard to reconcile with their existing self-sufficiency narrative that their prevailing narrative changed. Wanda’s story illustrates this point: Wanda talked about the year 2000, which she called her “hell year.” Her car’s transmission broke. She could not afford to replace it, and she lost her job because she did not have a way to get to work. She resisted asking for help because, as she said, “I already had played the aid game. It sucked. . . . I wasn’t going to go there again. I wanted to do things myself. Take care of myself. “ Wanda tried to go it alone, and ended up homeless because she could not pay her rent. That was in 2000. In 2016, Wanda rents an apartment she is proud of and has a job as an administrative assistant that she claims to “love.” Her job is forty-five minutes from her house, and she reported that her 1996 Ford Taurus just recently “gave out” on the way to work. She needed six hundred dollars to fix it, and Wanda did not have the money. But, as she said:
Oh man oh man I learned my lesson! God help me, anyone help me. I needed help and I needed it fast. No more dumb “Wanda I got this” talk. No more shame. No more need to prove anything. I asked family. I went to church and asked them. I asked my kids’ school. Anyone! Everyone! I needed that money and quick. Heck I went to DSS and asked for a loan. They laughed at me, really they laughed, but it was worth a try. And I got it! In less than three days. Church came through. My friends came through. And who would have thought, Zeke’s school came through. I saved myself because I put aside my pride. I learned my lesson. Help, help, help, get it when you need it, quick.
Wanda and other respondents like her had learned the realities of the incentive structure of the new safety net. Essentially, they had discovered the bootstrap trap. They learned through experience to put aside their desire for self-sufficiency—for pulling themselves up by the
bootstraps—in order to avoid further financial failure. One could interpret the lesson of the data in this study as showing that we need to disrupt the self-sufficiency narrative of low-income families. Indeed, respondents like Tori ended up homeless due in part to their commitment to self-sufficiency, while at least some respondents who have adopted a deserving recipient narrative seem to better be able to weather unexpected financial emergencies. However, there are several key reasons I do not think this is the best approach.
First, findings from this study and my past work show that narratives of self-sufficiency lead to pride and motivation towards upward mobility for many respondents.211
Not only do they desire to adhere to a self-sufficiency narrative, but the narrative and sense of one’s self as a self-sufficiency citizen is a motivating factor to work towards upward mobility goals.212 It allows them to feel pride and a
sense of economic citizenship in a way that depending on TANF and having to ask for what in their minds are “handouts” from other sources did not. Further, even for families who are willing to seek help, in many cases the current safety net is inadequate. As Luke Shaefer and Kathryn Edin have noted, some people who seek TANF and qualify are denied benefits for unclear reasons.213 And most
importantly, often when people experience unexpected financial emergencies, as several respondents in this study did, they need money right away. If they do not have family or friends to rely on, often the wait for public benefits is just too long, and whether they adhere to a self-sufficiency narrative or a deserving recipient narrative, they have to use credit in order to weather the shock. Ultimately, those who invoke a self-sufficiency narrative may be particularly at risk for a financial catastrophe. However, seeking help, as those who invoke the deserving recipient narrative often do, is by no means a guarantee of financial resilience due to the very limited options for help available, particularly when someone experiences an unexpected financial emergency.
The data from this study and other studies like it show how the new safety net is simply not enough to help struggling families maintain financial resilience in the wake of income and expenditure fluctuations and unexpected financial emergencies. By examining existing proposed reforms, the following Part illuminates their strengths and
211. See Tach & Greene, infra note 239, at 28–29. 212. Id.
weaknesses and helps highlight how a new proposal could better address some of the flaws in the current safety net.
IV. EXISTING PROPOSED REFORMS
This Part discusses some existing reform proposals aimed at helping struggling families stay afloat. Because the universe of proposals is expansive, this discussion is limited to three key types of proposals: those aimed at reducing the collateral consequences of the credit system; those aimed at helping families manage unexpected emergencies; and those aimed at providing more direct cash benefits to struggling families. Within each category, I am able to touch only on some of the many existing proposals for change. Several of these proposals would be transformative for the respondents in this study, as well as other struggling families. My proposal, however, is aimed at addressing some of the specific issues uncovered in the data from this study, while also taking into account what we already know about the ways in which families struggle to stay afloat.