I work full-time and need food stamps. This is what generational poverty looks like

The following commentary is based on testimony I delivered to the U.S Senate Committee on the Budget in a hearing last month on the low wages paid by big corporations such as McDonald’s. I was proud to tell my story and advocate for a $15 federal minimum wage because my story is the story of 62 million workers across the country who are paid less than $15 an hour.

There’s something broken in America when you can get up each day and go to work but still be trapped in poverty. As a second-generation fast food worker, I’ve felt the struggle of raising a family on low wages my whole life. Determined to break the cycle of generational poverty, I’ve been fighting for a $15 minimum wage and a union since 2013. Fifteen dollars is the bare minimum that workers like me need.

With Democrats in power and a clear majority of Americans behind us, we have a huge opportunity to give 32 million workers a life-changing raise and to give our kids a better life. I’m sick of politicians hemming and hawing about demands workers like me have been making for years. Working people don’t care how it happens. We care about keeping the lights on, about securing a brighter future for our families.

I come from a family of hard workers. My mother worked full time at Hardee’s for 30 years, and my dad served in the military as a cook. But even with two full-time incomes and food stamps, we had to skip meals. As a kid, I was a great student. By the eighth grade, I was in Advanced Placement classes and earning As. I still remember my teachers saying, “Terrence, you’re going to do great things. You can be anything.” I had plans to go to college and become a writer.

But when you’re living in poverty, those kinds of dreams get deferred. One day, I came home to no lights and an empty fridge. So at the age of 16, I got my first job at Taco Bell. My first paycheck, $150, went toward the light bill. It wasn’t enough. So I got a second job at Wendy’s to bring in more money for my family.

I tried to balance both work and school, but there simply wasn’t enough money for basic necessities. At 17, I had to leave high school and my dream of college behind. I’ve been a full-time fast food worker ever since.

Now I have a family of my own here in Kansas City. My fiancée and I have three daughters, ages 15, 17 and 18. We’ve been homeless despite bringing in two incomes. There were times when we packed into our minivan and endured freezing temperatures as we slept. I can still remember waking up in the middle of the night and seeing my daughters’ eyes wide open as they tossed and turned in the back seat. That’s something a parent can never forget and a memory you can never take away from your children.

That was before the pandemic. Since COVID-19 hit, it’s gotten even harder. In March, my hours were slashed. My family and I got evicted and had to move in with relatives, squeezing 11 people into a three-bedroom, one-bathroom house.

I’m an “essential worker” at McDonald’s, the second-largest restaurant company in America, and still rely on food stamps and Medicaid. I work my tail off, and I want to stand on my own. I want to provide my girls with three meals a day and give them the opportunities I didn’t have. I don’t want to go to the supermarket with my kids and have to take out my benefit card to buy food. My paycheck should be able to handle that.

This is what generational poverty in America looks like. I’m fighting to ensure my mother’s past and my present are not my daughters’ future.

We’ve done the hard part. I’ve marched, gone on strike, even gotten arrested. We’ve won the support of the American people. By comparison, Congress’ job now is easy: Do whatever it takes to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.

This story was originally published March 10, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "I work full-time and need food stamps. This is what generational poverty looks like."