What Is a “Working Family”?
As I sat down at my computer getting ready to write another blog post, I dreaded writing about the stalemate at the Indiana General Assembly. Now granted this one would have been a little different as House Speaker Brian Bosma and Democratic leader Pat Bauer both seemed to agree that progress had been made in their most recent talks, and if I’m reading my political tea leaves correctly, lawmakers could be back to work sometime next week.
But in all the shouting and posturing, one thing came to mind; this is supposed to be a fight for “working families”. But what exactly is a “working family”? I know for some people the “working family” consists of blue-collar parents or the single mom trying to make ends meet. And anyone who is not a small business owner or uses talents other than physical labor to make a living or is college educated doesn’t fit that definition. My definition of a “working family” is a little more broad than some of my more liberal counterparts.
A “working family” is anyone who has to work for a living. Is a couple that makes $50,000 a year more a working family than one that makes $125,000 a year, but has four children to support? Is a single mom with two kids who makes $35,000 a year more of a “working” person than the Dad who makes $50,000 but has to pay child support? I think the term “working family” has gotten overused in the Indiana political debate to the point where it has become a cliché. If you have to go to work to make a living, as most of us do, you are a working man, woman, and hermaphrodite, whatever! Working means you go to a job and get paid for services rendered. There’s a difference between you working for your money and your money working for you. The Lovely Mrs. Shabazz and I work very hard to get to that latter category. And while we’re at it, aren’t millionaires part of “working families” too if the millionaire has a company to run to support his or her family?
Let’s just settle this debate right now and say we are “fighting for working families”? We all want “working families” to have better schools? We all want “working families” to keep more of their paychecks? And we all want “working families” to enjoy sunshine, lollipops and rainbows. We can debate over how to best achieve those goals, but I think we all want the same outcome for “working families”. Agreed? I thought so.
Now that that’s settled, next time we’ll focus our attention next time on those “non-working families” that live off the productivity of those who actually work for a living.
