Northwood woman testifies before US Senate committee
Published 10:55 am Thursday, March 13, 2014
By John Skipper, Mason City Globe-Gazette
WASHINGTON — A Northwood woman, a single mother with four young children, told a U.S. Senate Committee on Wednesday of how hard it is to raise a family on a minimum-wage income.
“I work hard and want to be able to stand on my own two feet,” said Alicia McCrary, who works for a fast food restaurant in Mason City. “I believe I am worth 10 dollars and 10 cents an hour.”
She testified before the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, chaired by U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. Harkin is co-sponsor of a bill to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour.
McCrary told committee members she is the sole provider for her four boys, an 11-year-old, 10-year-old twins and a 5-year-old. She came to Iowa two years ago after leaving a domestically violent relationship in Illinois which forced them to live in a shelter, she said.
McCrary said she got involved with the North Iowa Community Action Organization and enrolled in the Family Development and Self-Sufficiency Program.
“This program is about helping me get off the system and become self-sufficient which is exactly what I want to do. I would prefer to get my money from a paycheck instead of from the system,” she testified.
McCrary said she works 20 to 25 hours a week. “My job requires me to be quick, efficient and do what needs to be done, cooking, taking orders, cleaning — I do it all and it is hard, hard work,” she said.
She started a year ago at $7.25 an hour and after completing her first year got a raise to $7.65 an hour.
The raise resulted in a slight increase in rent for her subsidized housing as well as a cut in food assistance and in TANF (Temporary Help for Needy Families, a federal assistance program).
“I earn about $450 a month from my job, receive $256 from TANF and about $240 in food assistance, not enough when feeding four growing and hungry boys,” she said.
“My fixed expenses like rent, utilities and bus passes cost almost $600 a month. So you can see that my budget is really, really tight. I have to make many hard choices every month,” said McCrary.
McCrary pays $20 a month per child for the boys to bring their computers home to do their homework because they don’t have a computer at home.
She doesn’t own a car and relies on the county’s transit system to get her to and from work. That presents another limitation for her. She can’t work additional hours because it would cause her to miss the bus — the only transportation she has.
She said her boys are like most boys, wanting to fit in and to participate in activities.
“I never have enough money to let them all do it. So I have to rotate who gets to do what,” she said.
Also, they all can’t get new clothes at the same time. “I tell them, ‘If you aren’t the lucky one this time, I’ll get you next time,’ “she said.