Dollars and cents

I predicted my 2013 income within $46.90.
This surprises me to a degree because my income is an amalgam of two part-time jobs, one that carries a lot of flexibility and is based on hourly wage at different pay scales depending if I am working in the office (more valuable by the hour) or out in the field (less financially valuable). Interesting, eh? Real-time interfacing with people is less financially valuable than organizing details and schedules and problem-solving and interoffice politics.
It also surprises me because I experienced a significant shift in income this year. My basic and not-so-luxurious expenses shifted right along with my paychecks, so it could be said everything is moving in the right direction.

So I was $46.90 shy of my projected annual income. In some ways this is negligible because it's not large enough to affect any eligibility gaps or brackets. But the reason I was in a position to project my income in the first place was related to potential support and subsidy for the new health care. As could be expected, it also influenced other subsidized benefits. You are entitled to as much thought and opinion on what you think personal choices have contributed to the individual financial circumstances of any individual, but I am here to tell you I now fully understand why people purposefully linger in low income brackets.

There is a certain amount of stability that comes with social assistance. I have never done anything but put in my time working hard and consistently yet I have also consistently qualified for social services. And I was grateful to accept them. Now that I have managed to climb out of the most deplorable income bracket within my fields of employment, which seemed upwardly mobile and desirable, I work more and harder than ever. It never occurred to me the toll would be less to work with month to month.

I recently caught a glimpse of a definition of poverty that stunned me. The federal poverty index, while being adjusted for inflation and cost of living, has never been reviewed for the definition of what qualifies as essential expenses. So while the valued tools of social acceptance have changed drastically over the last 50 years, they are not factored into the index of expenses. Social acceptance is measured by what the average person has access to to integrate socially and meaningfully with others. The most obvious strike is the momentum of technology over those decades. Telephones, cell phones, internet access, data plans are all considered normal aspects of social integration these days. They are not factored into life expenses on the poverty index. This definition of poverty is directly linked to being able to keep up with the Joneses.

Keeping up with the Joneses doesn't aspire to qualify for social services. I won't be asking for an income reduction (this has been suggested to me). I will be eating more rice and beans. I will also continue to worry that when I look at job posts for which I am qualified but ask for current earnings on which to base potential salary, the upward climb feels long and arduous.

Whereas I once would have said nobody really aspires to qualifying for social services, now I am not so sure.