As part of our ongoing commitment–in partnership with The Urban Institute–to providing information and resources related to the goals of Stepping Stones, please find below summary of recent research on issues of economic security and financial independence for women and their families.

This research is summarized and compiled for The Women’s Foundation by Kerstin Gentsch of The Urban Institute, NeighborhoodInfo DC.

Financial Education and Wealth Creation News

Borrowing to Get Ahead, and Behind: The Credit Boom and Bust in Lower-Income Markets
By Matt Fellowes and Mia Mabanta
The Brookings Institution
May 11, 2007

Examines the nation’s lower-income credit and lending markets.

• Over 55 percent of lower-income households held debt in 2004, a 10 percent increase since 1989.
• Usage of credit in lower-income markets varies widely across the country, from a high in Boston (where 75 percent of borrowers in lower-income markets owed money in 2005) to a low in Las Vegas (where less than 40 percent did).
• Management of credit in lower-income markets also varies widely across the country, from a low in San Jose, where less than 5 percent of borrowers in lower-income markets were behind on debt payments in 2005, to a high in Memphis, where over 18 percent were delinquent on at least one bill.
• Based on an evaluation of credit scores, potential growth in the supply of credit in lower-income markets is also widely variable across the country, from a low in Memphis and Milwaukee, where the average credit score in lower-income markets was 556 in 2005, to a high in Portland and San Jose, where the average score was over 635.
• With the expansion of lending in lower-income markets, an entirely new generation of policy implications has emerged, transcending the traditional focus on the supply of credit.

For main findings. 
For full report. 

A Local Ladder for Low-Income Workers: Recent Trends in the Earned Income Tax Credit
By Elizabeth Kneebone
The Brookings Institution
April 2007

Analyzes IRS data on low-income working families who received the federal Earned Income Tax Credit in tax years 2000 and 2004.

• In tax year 2004, more than one in six taxpayers nationwide received the EITC. Cities in the South, such as Jackson, MS (41 percent) and El Paso, TX (37 percent), had among the highest rates of EITC receipt in the country.
• By 2004, large metropolitan suburbs were home to 2.4 million more EITC recipients than their cities. While a higher share of central-city taxpayers (22 percent) than suburban taxpayers (13 percent) received the EITC in 2004, the number of suburban EITC recipients expanded by nearly 1.4 million from 2000 to 2004, versus less than half a million in cities.
• More than 46 percent of EITC filers claimed the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) in tax year 2004, and together the EITC and ACTC accounted for more than 70 percent of refunds paid to these low-income working families. The average EITC credit was $1,834 in 2004, while the average ACTC amount was $895. In total, EITC filers claimed $48.9 billion through the EITC and ACTC in 2004.
• The proportion of EITC recipients who filed their returns through volunteer tax preparers increased steadily in recent years, but by 2004 remained far lower (under 2 percent) than the share using paid preparers (over 70 percent).

For main findings. 
For full report.  

Jobs and Business Ownership News

The Gender Wage Ratio: Women’s and Men’s Earnings
Institute for Women’s Policy Research
April 2007

Shows that the wage ratio between women and men failed to narrow in 2006 and that an earlier trend toward equal pay has stalled.

• According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2006 the ratio of the annual averages of women’s and men’s median weekly earnings was 80.8 for full-time wage and salary workers, down slightly from 2005, when it was 81.0, compared with a 1993 level of 77.1. Women’s usual weekly earnings were $600 in 2006, compared with $743 for men.
• Another series of earnings data, median annual earnings, shows the same trend of a stalled gender wage ratio. The annual earnings ratio for full-time year-round workers in 2005 (the latest year for which data are available)—77.0—was very similar to that observed in 2001—76.3. Women earned an average of $31,858 in 2005, compared with men’s $41,386. Real annual earnings have not increased for either women or men in recent years.

For press release.  
For full fact sheet. 

Innovative Employment Approaches and Programs for Low-Income Families
By Karin Martinson and Pamela A. Holcomb
Urban Institute
May 17, 2007

Designed to assist states and localities in identifying innovative strategies to promote stable employment and wage growth among low-income populations.

The paper distills key lessons from the body of research undertaken to date and identifies innovative approaches and programs for improving the employment prospects of low-income families. The paper presents a typology of four relatively broad employment strategies, and within each, a number of “innovative” approaches and several programs that exemplify each approach. Overall, the paper identifies and profiles 12 innovative approaches and 51 programs for improving the economic success of low-income parents. The paper discusses why the approach is innovative and provides a description of the key components of each.

For executive summary.  
For full report.  

Child Care and Early Education News

Improving After-School Program Quality
By Robert C. Granger, J. Durlak, N. Yohalem, and E. Reisner
William T. Grant Foundation
April 2007

Argues that the primary issue facing the after-school field is learning how to intervene effectively to improve programs and provides new information on the features of effective programs.

Summarizes findings from two recent reports:

• After-school programs attempting to enhance youth’s personal and social skills can improve outcomes that are important to both school and non-school audiences programs focusing on specific social or personal skills are most successful when they employ sequential, focused, explicit learning activities and active youth involvement. They also find that these programs tend to improve a range of outcomes at the same time. They refer to such programs as SAFE (Sequenced, Active, Focused, Explicit).
• The second report describes instruments that measure the quality of youth program practices at the point of service. Although various teams of researchers and practitioners created the instruments, the report shows that these instruments share a common core and that practitioners believe the instruments capture the practices that define program quality. This convergence suggests that an important consensus is emerging in the field about effective practices.

The aim here is to help the field consider the implications of these two reports for policy and practice. The reports support the case that after-school programs are capable of improving important youth outcomes. They also support the need to stay focused on improving program quality.

For full report. 

I spend my days, and many a night, thinking about what inspires donors, the power of the collective and what it means to work in a field supported by the gifts of others.  And in all those hours, spanning days, weeks, months and years, I rarely hear the word “risk.”

And yet, for me, philanthropy, in its most glorious state, is about risk, and especially the kind of risk that brings unanticipated reward.

Poor Risk!  Calculated risk.  Risky business.  Risky behavior.  Even risqué. 

We shelter its very meaning with modifiers that restrain, and protect us from the menace, the threat that risk seems to mean these days.

Risk can mean loss, of course, yet it also is about taking a chance, taking action, about adventure, change and above all, possibility.

Risk desires.  Risk hopes.  Risk wants more from each of us than we can give.

So, risk requires that we trust each other, trust the greater society, and indeed trust ourselves as we find a way, together, to create the kind of change that only risk brings.

Foundations can do risk. 

Foundations can champion emerging issues and new problems (See Gates and AIDS research!). Foundations can identify and support new and truly innovative solutions that would otherwise flounder (See vaccine development and delivery!).  Foundations can support both leaders and institutions (see Kellogg!) and ensure a stronger sector. Foundations can do all this and survive failure, too.  Their own and that of others, as long as lessons are learned from failure (see the actions of the Heinz Foundation’s regarding the Pittsburgh public schools). 

Foundations embrace and act on risk, take the chance and, in the best examples, inspire the greater reward we all share in.

Individual donors can take risks with great reward, too.  Donors, like foundations, learn about what works but trust  their own learning and their instincts when it comes to leaders, when it comes to solutions.

Risk in philanthropy is not blind, nor is it calculated.  Risk in giving acknowledges the problem, the challenge, and inspires us individually, and at The Women’s Foundation, collectively, to embrace the possibility of change.

We live in a time where risk is discouraged, where impulse is controlled, yet the very spark of possibility that philanthropy invites can only grow to action when risk is invited and accepted as essential to the act of giving.

To give is, at its very essence, to live.  And being alive is a risk in and of itself.

Well, I didn’t successfully complete the one-week D.C. Hunger Food Stamp Challenge, but, I did learn valuable lessons and new personal insights. 

But first, full disclosure.  Why didn’t I finish?  I pretty much gave up.  I tried, but it was pretty tough.

The first lesson I learned was, if grocery shopping on a limited budget, it’s best to buy everything before the week begins. That way, it’s harder or better yet impossible, since there’s no money, to be tempted to buy high priced foods here and there throughout the week that you really don’t need.

The second lesson I learned is how connected I am with food, emotionally, physically, and psychologically. The fourth night of the challenge was the hardest. I went to bed feeling almost depressed because I couldn’t eat what I really wanted. The smell and taste was so close, yet so far.  Up until the fourth day, physical hunger wasn’t a problem, but that night, my stomach was feeling empty.  Ironically while I write this, an ABC Nightline commercial just aired about gastric-bypass surgery and referred to food “as an addiction.”

On the morning of the third day, I was so irritable that I grabbed a cold cookie from a refrigerator and ate it within 20 seconds. I felt so restricted that I didn’t even warm it up like I usually do. I didn’t even like that particular chocolate flavor, but it was sweet, quick, satisfying, accessible, and free.

I pretty much knew that I was going to go back to the usual eating regime on the morning of the fifth day. I still can’t really imagine how people who are really suffering from chronic hunger, and people who don’t necessarily starve, but who can’t afford the foods of their choice, feel.

I think I took it so hard because it was such a fresh experience for me, but for someone who hasn’t had the foods of their choice for months, I wonder if there is a kind of desensitization to the whole thing of missing tastes.

All this wondering made me pull the late Elliot Liebow’s, Tell Them Who I Am: The Lives of Homeless Women, off my bookshelf.  I like this book because the information comes from his participatory observation of single, homeless women in emergency shelters in DC.  One of the main problems of daily living was health and diet.

“Obesity, stomach disorders, diabetes, food allergies, cardiovascular irregularities, and other disorders for which diet is integral to treatment made up another class of common health problems that resisted treatment by the very nature of homelessness…typically in shelters, few choices were available. Low-fat, low-salt, low cholesterol…and other low-this-or-that dietary injunctions were almost impossible to observe,” Liebow writes.   

Nobody, especially in the U.S., should go hungry, and/or be subject to affordable but highly unhealthy food. We have enough food in our stores and restaurants for everyone to eat sufficiently and healthy. This made me want to do a little research.

According to the nonprofit organization CARE:
•  More than 840 million people in the world are malnourished — 799 million of them live in the developing world;
•  Over 153 million of the world’s malnourished people are children 5 years of age or younger; and,
•  A lack of essential minerals and vitamins contributes to increased child and adult mortality. Vitamin A deficiency impairs the immune system, increasing the annual death toll from measles and other diseases by an estimated 1.3 million-2.5 million children.

That’s hard to digest (no pun intended), not because it doesn’t seem valid (I wish that were the case), but because it’s mind blowing.

What’s going on in the most developed country?

Looking at hunger stats at home (the U.S.) according to FRAC (The Food and Research Action Center):
•  At least 10.8 million people live in homes considered to have “very low food security.”
•  In my home state, Maryland, 196,000 households were considered “food insecure” from data gathered between 2003-2005. 115,165 of people in these households were WIC recipients (Women Infants and Children). Minimum wage in Maryland was $6.15 as of 2006. That is not enough for a woman who has a young child or children, and is trying to pay for decent housing, to live on.
•  In DC, the number is lower, with 31,000 households considered to be “food insecure” from data gathered between 2003-2005. 15,193 of people in these households considered food insecure are WIC recipients. The minimum wage in DC was $7.00 as of 2006.

These types of facts outrage me, especially when I hear about the kids.  That’s also what made it frustrating to quit the challenge prematurely–guilt from knowing that I have the privilege to return to my “regular eating” when many don’t.

On a positive note, a good insight I had from all this was that I should continue volunteering at the Pathways shelter I go to monthly.  I am a “dinner volunteer” for the smaller subcomponent of Calvary Women’s Services in DC, and in the two weeks prior to the challenge, I’d just started searching for different volunteering opportunities that might provide more direct interaction between me and the clients.   

Pathways houses about 10 chronically homeless women, some with mental disorders, and at the site there isn’t much talk between me and the women when I go to deliver food and prepare plates.  While I understand why they wouldn’t want to chat it up with someone they see bring some dinner in every once in a while, I really would like an opportunity that allows me to interact more, so I was thinking of not going anymore, and instead looking into reading for children in local hospitals or something.

After this challenge, while I can look for other opportunities, I know I can’t stop bringing the food.  The women always say they like my dishes, and the least I can do is send some hot, tasty, nutritious dishes their way.

Nobody should have to go hungry, and for me it starts on working on issues that affect the women right here in the local community.

For information on other ways to get involved in our community, Volunteer and Connect! 

I did it! I made it through all seven full days of the Food Stamp Challenge without breaking!

Day 4, Thursday, was okay.  Breakfast was the standard yogurt and Special K Bar.  Lunch was my $1 pizza, which felt like such a treat even if it wasn’t the best tasting thing I’ve ever eaten. I ate my dinner of a Boca burger with cheese on whole wheat before heading to my Bread for the City board meeting.  I resisted eating the usual pizza and salad provided at our Board meetings, and just had a glass of water. Several other board members and staff were participating in the challenge, so there were many of us who weren’t eating.  We spent some time at the meeting reflecting on our experiences, and the solidarity was helpful in reminding me why I agreed to take on this challenge in the first place and why an organization like Bread is so necessary.

Day 5, Friday, was the toughest of all for me throughout the challenge. Lately, I’ve been hitting the gym five days a week and I tried to stick with it during the challenge, which was tough. After my workout on Friday, the rest of the day was a struggle. After four and half days of eating so few calories, burning quite a lot (although not as much as usual, as I had zero energy left to do any weights), and then enduring the Code Orange air and 90 percent humidity, memories of heat exhaustion in Delhi came flooding back. But, alas, no access to Limca Cola to perk me up.

I could barely focus at the morning workshop I attended, and I was so cranky and hungry and numb as I slugged back to my office throughout the downtown heat, loathing the smell of the city in the summer. I ate my last remaining tuna and cheese sandwiches. I somehow managed to stay alert by constantly drinking water through my afternoon meetings and the graduation of WAWIT’s inaugural class (even my weariness from the Food Stamp Challenge could not keep me away!).

I was too exhausted afterwards to do anything but go home and go to bed.

Day 6, Saturday, was tolerable. Having purchased just enough yogurt and Special K Bars for my weekday breakfasts, I had been counting on eating toast for breakfast on Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately, I had miscalculated how much bread I had, so I had to skip breakfast on both Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, I slept in and then hit the gym. I staved off my hunger with leftover pasta and beans throughout the day.  I got pretty creative with tossing pasta with a little olive oil and spices to try and fool the palate into thinking I was eating something different. I didn’t have a choice, as I was out of pretty much everything else.

Saturday evening, I met some friends for movie, which was good since eating wasn’t involved. Afterwards, we decided to enjoy the pleasant weather and catch up over drinks at a place with an outdoor patio, which meant tap water for me and beers and munchies for everyone else. It actually felt good to be able to exercise some will power, but then I was starving by the time I got home. As it was after midnight, I decided it was too late to eat and went straight to bed and tried to forget about being hungry.

Day 7, Sunday, could not pass fast enough. By the end of the day, I had eaten almost all of my remaining pasta. I have maybe a couple of ounces of dry pasta left, but other than that, I have eaten every scrap of food I purchased for the challenge.

I weighed myself before and after the challenge. I lost four pounds.  I think I ended up skipping a total of three meals during the seven days. Reflecting on the past seven days, I am reminded of my experience bungy jumping in New Zealand:

a)  I did it on a whim.
b)  It was horrifying.
c)  I’m glad I did it.
d)  I proved to myself that I could do it without chickening out.
e)  I don’t feel the need to ever do it again.
f)  Now, that it’s over, I have a feeling of sweet relief.

As a co-chair of D.C.’s WIN’s Nonprofit Network, I was responsible for sharing responsibility for planning a dinner party for the annual Women Opening Doors for Women event.  The dinner parties are designed to provide young women in our area the opportunity to meet in an informal setting to discuss professional issues with women who are more advanced in their careers. 

The theme for our discussion, "Women in Nonprofits: We are Not Worth Less," emerged largely from a number of discussions among women in our network around salary and professional concerns related to the nonprofit sector, as well as from research around the salary and leadership levels of women within the sector as a whole. 

Eleven women gathered for more than two hours–until after 10 p.m.–to hear Elizabeth Lower-Basch, a senior policy analyst with the Center for Law and Social Policy and Lisa Maatz, director of government relations and public policy with the American Association of University Women, discuss their perspectives and learning around careers in the nonprofit sector–and particularly the balances and choices that impact women in the sector.

Questions and discussion centered largely around the tension that surrounds a choice to prioritize doing good over making millions, and why it is often women who often decide to prioritize the former.  My sense is that the nature of this discussion–and the level of interest and energy around it (demonstrated through the number and depth of comments Elizabeth received to a blog she posted on the topic and trends and conversations within the sector [more on that later])–raises some important questions about the nonprofit sector and the (by and large) women who are employed within.

Particularly given the recent discussions and research emerging showing startling trends in the nonprofit sector, such as the recent YNPN survey report cited on On Philanthropy, which shows that out of 1,657 nonprofit professionals:

• 82 percent are female
• 15 percent are under 25; 41 percent are 25-29; 22 percent are 30-34, and 15 percent are over 35
• 55 percent plan to stay in the nonprofit sector for their next job. The other 45 percent intend to leave, for sectors such as consulting and for-profit companies.
• The top two factors they cited as drivers for leaving the sector were salary/wages and burnout both indicated by at least half the participants, with burnout the most popular answer.
• 40 percent of respondents indicated that they were neutral or thought it unlikely that they would ever serve as executive directors. Survey respondents cited long hours, the demands of funders, and the demands of boards as the primary barriers to pursuing those positions.

On Philanthropy then asks, "If a significant proportion of these motivated young professionals, many of whom are already serving as second-tier leaders in their organizations, don’t expect to even pursue top leadership positions, who will fill the Baby Boomers’ large shoes? Are we indeed facing a leadership deficit that will cripple our ballooning sector? If so, how can we ensure that the next generation is willing and able to take on leadership roles?"   

Begging the question, what can the sector–and particularly those within committed to women’s leadership, economic security and workplace equity and justice, as well as the consistent strengthening of effectiveness, innovation and impact within the sector–do to stem the ever-leaving tide of young talent?

A number of thoughts and concerns expressed at the dinner, as well as within the blogosphere, may lend some answers, or, at least, food for thought: 

Debt Driving Decisions
A point made at the dinner was that by and large, the amount of student loan debt someone has will be a great influencing factor in what sector they choose to work in.  The proposed Student Debt Relief Act could help address this, however, by providing loan forgiveness for people who enter the public service–including the nonprofit sector.  One of the speakers pointed out that, due to the prevalence of women in the nonprofit sector, this would be a large win for women, as well as for the nonprofit sector, which would gain additional recognition and stature as an industry doing service in the public good and have more talent available to it as few were forced to self-select out to pay back loans. 

Should Social Change Work Be a Luxury?
Similarly discussed was that the sector, due to its comparatively low wage base, could often be closed off to those who can’t afford to do unpaid internships, get an advanced degree (without assistance from family, the government or scholarships to help pay for it) or are single women (either living alone or heading households–particularly in an economy like D.C.’s).  As a result, does the sector then become privy to leadership only from those in the financial position to be willing to work a second job or who are fortunate enough to receive support from a spouse or family? 

You Can’t Buy Me…Diversity?
This relates to the discussions that have been taking place between a number of philanthropic thinkers on the ability of those with means to influence the sector moreso than those who may have not.  Is the sector, at every level, being closed to those who may have the largest stake in social change?  (Note that the survey results cited before indicate that currently the nonprofit sector is primarily white (72 percent), followed by 6 percent African American, 6 percent Asian/Pacific Islander, and 5 percent Latino/a)–perhaps as much an indicator that increasing diversity within the nonprofit sector will depend as much on economic and salary issues as on general cultural competency or diversity awareness.

Women’s Work…Is It Worth Less?
Then there is the piece about what this says about the status of the sector as a whole, and other sectors that are predominantly occupied by women.  I met with someone yesterday who made the excellent point that in nursing, a field long-dominated by women, demand always exceeds the number of available positions, and yet like with almost any other employment market, this never drives up salaries.  As a result, quality of care declines as the standards drop for the education and skills of those accepted into the field.  

This is interesting to consider when framed in terms of the nonprofit sector and the current trends referenced above.  Could there eventually be a significant drop in talent, leadership and ability as employment in the sector becomes based far more on financial security than on commitment, drive or professional predisposition?

Negotiations: Taking from, or contributing to the mission?
And finally, there is the personal issue of negotiation–and the difficulty many women express in negotiating for a higher salary in a context of social justice.  Or at all, as it well documented in Linda Babcock’s Women Don’t Ask.   

While we spent a fair amount of time last night discussing the nuts and bolts of negotiating, this conversation also brought out another issue–that of holding nonprofits to the same standards as their missions, and considering that if the sector is committed to economic security, a living wage and social justice that this must begin "at home" so to speak, with workplace policies, salaries and cultures that reinforce, support and contribute to the very mission they may be promoting throughout their region, country or internationally.

Generally, a lot to think about and an illustration, at least to me, of how a number of the conversations about the nonprofit sector in general–related to retention of talent, fostering young leaders and ensuring a diversity of voices across all aspects, including class and socio-economic background–deserve some serious consideration from the perspective of a gender lens.

And are an illustration, yet again, of how looking at and addressing an issue that may seem, at first, to be about women, is really about the welfare, advancement and effectiveness of everyone concerned. 

I haven’t even covered a fraction here of the wisdom of our speakers last night, or the other women who shared their experiences and ideas, and I’m sure there is a ton more here to think about.  Let us know your thoughts in comments. 

How do you think the nonprofit sector stacks up for women and in general?  What can we do to improve things?  Does any of this really matter?  If so, to what extent?  Is the sector–and other similar ones dominated by women–a statement about women’s status in society? 

How far has the sector come?  How much further do we have to go to make it a win, for women and in general?      

Wow, I have 3.5 days left of this challenge, and little to spend. The first grocery shopping trip totaled $4.09 from my Wal-Mart purchases of sandwich ingredients and Ramen, but since then I’ve spent about $11.00.

Honestly, I’m a little disappointed in the lack of willpower I’ve exhibited in the last three days. The estimated $11 worth of food eaten doesn’t come from a shopping receipt.  It comes from me succumbing to food around my house.  I’m not as hard on myself for the morning of the fourth day; I needed an aspirin and that doesn’t go well on an empty stomach, and I’d left the PB&J stash at work.

Even though I’ve eaten smaller portions of the available free food than I usually would, I’ve decided to count yesterday’s divulgences as purchases. Here’s a list of what I already had in my refrigerator that I have partially eaten or drunk with estimated prices (no receipt):

-$3.80 Organic Valley half gallon of organic milk (Wal-Mart)
-$0.79 Low Fat, Strawberry Yoplait Yogurt (Purchased at a commissary- grocery store for military families located on an army base.  Prices are lower than “outside” grocery stores.)
-$3.50 Personal Pan Cheese Pizza Hut Pizza (price includes a military discount)
-$2.50 Large Orange flavored vitamin water (contains vitamin C)
-General Mills Cereal: Cinnamon Toast Crunch (probably a little over $3.00 from the commissary)

Technically, I need to make about $3.00 work until Monday afternoon- whew. 

Thoughts of food, like what to eat, when, how much it will cost, etc., have been running through my mind since early this morning. On my way to work, I thought about McDonald’s. Last night, as I was browsing through blogs of other Food Stamp Challengers, I noticed that one woman had factored in the McDonald’s dollar menu. So, this morning, I reminisced about the $1.00 McChicken sandwich that I used to love and eat at least twice a week as a freshman in college. I was already planning that I could munch off the food I have already been rationing, continue finishing the peanut butter and jelly, and have one item from the dollar menu for the next three days.

But, ever since watching the documentary Supersize Me, I have stayed away from it for the past two years, and it was a bit odd for me to realize that I was actually considering going back. It would be so convenient.  It’s cheap, fast, and it tastes good, but I’m still a little leery about what’s in there to make it so good. 

It brings home how given my limited budget, I have to think first about staying under the $3.00 than to watch for nutrition. 

I keep asking myself, if I can’t even stick to this one week challenge what does it say about me and my relation to food and money?

In addition to being slightly disappointed with myself for not adhering to the suggestions in the Food Stamp Challenge guidelines, there have been times where I’ve felt a little disheartened by some people’s skepticism towards me taking part in the challenge.  The family and friends that knew I would take part in this were very quizzical of the challenge, and freely expressed their disagreement and lack of empathy.  Most of them began with “Why?” and, if it was said in person, their face scrunched up and almost read, “Okay, whatever.”

On the third day of the challenge, I even almost got into an argument with my mother. (In a goodhearted way).  But, it really was frustrating, because I told her on more than one occasion that I couldn’t spend more than $21 on food for the week, yet when I come home, there’s food waiting. Then I proceed to eat some, and add it into my sinking budget. I guess I might be getting frustrated with myself and using her as an accessible path to channel the guilt. She takes my talk of the Food Stamp Challenge in one ear and out the other.

The bigger picture I want to start digging into after this week is people’s reactions to my decision to take on the challenge, and why most let the information go in one ear and out the other.  Except for my co-workers, most people listened to me for no more than thirty seconds before moving on to another topic.  

Being hungry and not being listened to…it’s all a little saddening, but a good learning experience for me to go through.

In follow on to Ruth’s post today about her thoughts on the Food Stamp Challenge experience, and about her new awareness about living that close to the margins of hunger, poverty and general economic insecurity, I couldn’t help but think today again about the DC Saves campaign, and about how saving is truly one of the best ways of preventing teetering on that line.

My thoughts drifted to the movie, Pursuit of Happyness, and how painful it was to watch a father’s struggle to move he and his son further and further back from that edge.

Then to my own bank account, a reminder of how, despite having joined DC Saves, I’m barely keeping up with my own commitment and savings goal.

About how saving is, for whatever reasons and a variety of circumstances, so difficult for so many, even when we know better.  And even when we’re better off, comparatively, than many others. 

That the ability to save, I’ve learned, has far less to do with one’s annual earnings or expenses, and far more to do with one’s beliefs, habits and awareness.  Which is good, at least, since these things often tend to be far more within the realm of our immediate control than our salary or the region’s cost of living or rental markets.

Still, I do often find my discipline wavering, when I know that I’d be so much better off in the long-run to stay on track. 

This even though I know, firsthand, as the daughter of a single mother, a woman going through a divorce, a professional who has faced a layoff and a resident living in a city with an extremely high cost of living, how crucially important saving is.

I was doubly reminded when Carolee sent around an email today from Colleen Daily of CAAB (a key leader in the DC Saves campaign), who had talleyed up the saving priorities of those enrolled to date in the DC Saves campaign.  They are:

23% saving for an emergency fund
19% saving for retirement
15% saving for debt repayment
10% saving for homeownership
8% saving for education,
6% saving for a vacation
5% saving for investment savings
5% did not specify a savings goal
3% saving for business
2% saving for home improvement
2% saving for a consumer product
2% saving for a special event

Yet another stark reminder of the need–felt by so many–to be prepared for those unforseen circumstances that everyone is vulnerable to that can make the difference between making it and falling off the margin.

It helps reinforce to such an extent the importance of the work we, and our Grantee Partners, do to build the financial literacy skills and wealth of low-income, single women in our region, who are perhaps living closer to the margin than anyone else.

It brings together for me the importance, first, of protecting our own economic security (For a start, consider joining DC Saves where the only commitment required is to your own financial future!) to the greatest extent possible, and then to think about ways to support that of others as a means of creating a better community for each of us–where women, girls and families are all living within the margins, able to focus on building a life, rather than just keeping their balance. 

I love a challenge and have always thought one didn’t need a lot of money to eat well, so I was well suited for the challenge.  My plan was simple: a big pot of beans and rice, a pot of potato soup and some spaghetti.  I don’t eat breakfast and I’m happy with leftovers for lunch.  I filled things out with a half dozen eggs (protein and an option for omelets and huevos rancheros) along with some corn tortillas, and cheese (Can you tell I’m a westerner?). The soup called for a few potatoes, but I bought a five pound bag which I figured could fill out a few lunches with the office microwave.

I didn’t really know what things cost, so I went to the online shopping Giant Peapod sight to compare prices and finalize my list. I was quickly over my limit and had to go for the higher unit prices of smaller quantities. I had to buy a pint of milk instead of a quart (for the soup). I could only get a half dozen eggs, and I needed butter for the potatoes and soup (I wasn’t going to get a trans fat to save money) and you can’t buy just a stick at a regular grocery store (I found I had to go to a neighborhood store to get a single stick…it cost about a dollar, which is outrageous when four are $2.50 or more in a Giant…but I didn’t have $2.50).

I was determined to buy some produce. I know from my work with a farm organization that a dollar pays for something like 150 calories of processed food, but only about 50 calories of produce. The challenge brings this into stark relief. 

In fact, my bean recipe calls for a green, red and yellow pepper. The green pepper is $.75 a pound. The red and yellow ones are around $2.50 a pound.  So whereas I usually don’t bat an eye and go for the color and sweetness, this time I settled with two green peppers.  Also, my potato soup recipe called for celery. At $2.00 for a product with zero calories, I couldn’t do it.  I changed my recipe to a simple cream of potato soup.

Another difficult decision was the cheese. I love cheese and it was a critical addition to my beans and rice, and would be the only thing making the omelet an omelet and not scrambled eggs. Plus, cheese and tortillas were the only option I had for a snack.  (By the way, corn tortillas are a lot cheaper than flour and you can get a big stack at a latino grocery, which is where you can get the freshest beans, too.)  At $3.50, the cheese was more than 15 percent of my budget.

The spaghetti dish was harder to afford than I expected.  I make a pretty good spaghetti with tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes, but I couldn’t afford both. The crushed tomatoes were about twice the price, so I decided to get two cans of sauce at $.75 each for $1.50 total—pretty runny fare. I was buying garlic for the beans and would have some left over, and I could use spices, so it would taste fine. When I arrived at the store, they were having a sale on Classico for $1.59 a jar.  It was a few ounces less, but about three times the calories with all the additions.

I paid the extra $.09 and pictured a struggling single mother constantly on the alert to ensure her children got enough calories to meet their nutritional needs and enough quantity to feel full…or, at least, no longer hungry.

I had a quick panic at the check-out when my total exceeded $21.00. With my bonus card, it went down almost $4. Even though it was short lived, the panic was acute. What a horrible feeling to think you’ll have to pick something to return.

There was no fluff on my list.  I don’t know what I would have cut.

It’s interesting to note that I went vegetarian when I’m not one.  But I just didn’t see meat going far enough or being worth the money. 

But what if you’re an immigrant with a traditional diet that is heavily meat based? Or you’re working several jobs and don’t have time to cook, or to go to two grocery stores as I did to maximize every dollar?

I went home and started cooking.  As often happens, I got distracted doing other things. Next thing I knew, I needed to add water to my beans.  No problem, I caught it in time.  But what would have happened if I had burned them? Frankly, I’d be out of luck. 

Forget all the previous panics and careful calculations of this exercise—one I can stop at any time—when you’re that close to the margin, one bad thing can have catastrophic results.

That’s when it hit me how scary every day must be for people who rely on food stamps.  How, if your refrigerator breaks down, if you burned your beans, if you forgot to bring your lunch one day…you’d be in real trouble. You’d have few to no options. You’d go without.

I’m profoundly sad to understand—not just know—that people in this country go hungry.

That they face this challenge every day, and that at the end of the week, their challenge continues.

Today is day three of my seven days on the Food Stamp Challenge.  So far, so good.

Monday was pretty easy-breezy.  I decided to stagger my allotted food for the day.  Yogurt for breakfast, a cheese sandwich for lunch, a Special K bar for an afternoon snack to tide me over, and then a Boca burger with grilled onions and cheese on whole wheat bread for dinner.

Tuesday (National Hunger Awareness Day) was a bit more of challenge, mostly because of the temptation of “free” food (but there’s no such thing as a free lunch, right?).  At our staff retreat on Tuesday, lunch was provided.  The rules of the challenge state that one “should try to avoid accepting food at receptions, parties, friends’ homes, or your place of work.”  So, I came prepared my yogurt breakfast and multi-grain penne pasta lunch. I actually felt pretty good because it meant I avoided eating the donuts provided for breakfast and the potato chips and cookies served with lunch (Hmmm, maybe we need to think about having healthier foods at our staff meetings!).

Later that night, I had my book club meeting—which, as folks who know me know, features the absolute best meal I eat every month.  I’m fortunate to be in a book club with some excellent cooks and foodies.  Generally, the hostess makes the entrée and the other participants sign up to bring beverages, appetizers, salads, bread, side dishes, and desserts.  It’s always a delectable smorgasbord and last night was no exception.

However, I held firm and ate the brown bag cheese sandwich I had brought while I watched my friends devour hummus and vegetables, glasses of red wine, quiche, salad, some kind of yummy-looking spinach-peppers-mushroom combo, and three kinds of crusty bread.  This was followed by homemade strawberry and rhubarb pie topped with two kinds of Ben & Jerry’s.  Luckily, not much chocolate was involved, so I was again able to restrain myself and stick to my strawberry Special K bar for dessert (Saved from breakfast—I’m getting pretty good at rationing!).

Today, Wednesday, has been much easier.  I had an early morning meeting where breakfast pastries were provided, but I was on the offensive again with my yogurt and Special K bar and managed to avoid eating a scrumptious-looking super-sized cinnamon role.  For lunch, I brought pasta (again) and a cheese sandwich (again)—I had decided I was left a bit hungry the previous day and needed to double up on lunch. Lunch was actually quite enjoyable, but that was because I met a friend in the park for a picnic lunch and it was one of those glorious spring days without too much humidity!

So far, this exercise has reminded me:

• That there’s nothing like a challenge to motivate me.  Since this week is really a simulation, it’s more a test of my will power than anything else. I’m not a person who’s ever been motivated to participate in fad diets for the purpose of weight loss. A challenge on the other hand, is a whole different story—particularly when it’s connected to raising awareness about one of the issues I’m most passionate about—poverty—and one of the organizations I’m most devoted to—Bread for the City (For more on my ties to Bread, please click here and read under "On Poverty".)  And let’s face it, pride and shame are huge motivators. I agreed to blog about this experience, and who wants to have to admit failure publicly?
• How much, we (as in those of us who have plenty to eat and nearly constant access to food) tend to overeat. Eating a limited, rationed diet motivates you to eat when hungry, not just because it’s “lunch time” or because food is there. Though I don’t know, maybe if you’re truly hungry, you eat whatever’s available when it’s available because you don’t know where your next meal is coming from or when it might be? (As Sherell noted earlier today).  I did have a debate with myself about whether to accept the free food offered on Tuesday, but my will power won over. A thought I had was, if I truly had limited access to food, wouldn’t I have eaten the three free meals offered and rationed my own supply to last another day?
• Just how much free food I have access to through my job. It’s tragically ironic that those who have the least resources likely have the least access to free prepared meals to supplement their diets, while those of us with comfortable incomes probably have food a little too available to us. Them that’s got shall get, them that’s not, shall lose?
• Just how much my social life seems to revolve around food. I’ve had to be a bit more creative about my social plans this week. Instead of going out to lunch, I made a date to meet a friend in the park. No happy hours, no dinner at a new restaurant I’ve been wanting to check out, no catching up over coffee. I have a friend I want to see this weekend and instead of dinner and a movie, it will be just a movie (I’m wondering if I qualified for food stamps, could I realistically afford the movie? Probably not.) Is this yet another way that poverty is isolating?
• How pretty freakin’ easy my life is compared to many people’s. I hardly think it’s a hardship for someone who eats well year round to engage in one week of restraint.  Eating on a food stamp budget for one week is nothing compared to doing it year round. I ate just fine in the weeks leading up to the challenge and feel sure I’ll eat just fine afterwards. But can I even imagine what it would be like if I had limited access to food for weeks on end? If I actually had to endure hunger for long periods of time? How would this affect my health? My outlook on life?

And what if I were a single mother with children to feed and I thought they were going to bed hungry at night?

The first night of the Food Stamp Challenge, I had the particularly odd experience of dreaming about food. I was thinking about it so much, about the taste and how I felt restrained from it.

The first day went fine.  I ate good things and wasn’t that hungry, it was just the thought of not having access to any food or drink I wanted.  Before I went to bed, I had the quick thought of going to Starbucks the next morning for a Double Chocolate Chip Frappacino, but then I quickly remembered that I couldn’t afford Starbucks. Even the smallest size costs over $3.00!

I also though about and wished for fresh fruit, the smell and taste, the colorful mix of pineapples and strawberries, and how I hadn’t had any. I guess these thoughts were precursors to the dream.

In my dream, I was so hungry that my stomach hurt, and I had the option of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or a pack of Ramen chicken noodles, and I didn’t care to eat either.

The second day was more challenging than the first. I ate my usual breakfast, two Quaker oatmeal packs left over from last week. For lunch, I packed one peanut butter and jelly sandwich because I didn’t want to eat the lunch I knew would be provided at the day’s work retreat. When the catering arrived, I tried to not think about the food, but it was as if my senses were doubly alert.  I heard people crunching on chips, getting soda, putting ice in their cup.

I finally got one bag of chips and two cookies, not too healthy. I forgot about the Nature Way granola bar I had packed in my purse, probably because I wasn’t too excited about the taste. (They taste fine, but pale in comparison to a sugar cookie.) 

I felt like a failure for breaking down and eating some of the food provided, so for dinner I ate my Ramen noodles and stayed away from the home cooked food.  It was filling, but not too healthy, and was a little disappointing as I watched my sister and nephew eating their food heartily.

My friend purchased one Krispy Kreme orginal glaze iced donut for me. At first, I refused, but then I reasoned that one donut is fairly cheap, and I ate it. I’m finding a motif here. I am thinking about food so much, and the taste, that whenever I come in contact with something tasty and unhealthy, I am very quick to eat it.  I had a pretty high amount of sugar and salt yesterday that it almost makes me embarrassed to think about. In addition to eating unhealthy free foods without a second thought, I eat them fast, as though someone is going to take it away from me and put yet another restraint on me.

It’s a good thing I have half a bottle of Odwalla “Mo Beta” fruit juice left over, a few sips of it a day will have to suffice as my fresh fruit supplement. I can’t wait to buy and eat real fresh fruit next week. Usually, I go to the nearby Soho or Sizzling Express and get a small take-out of strawberries, oranges, and pineapples, but the total runs between $3.50 and $5.00 so that will have to wait.

Scary to think that this is just one week, when in reality it’s months and months longer for many low-income women on food stamps.

For more insights into Sherell’s Food Stamp Challenge experience, check out her post on D.C. Hunger Solution’s blog.