FAMILY LIFE IN THE RECESSION : Staying Afloat : Hard times are here, and money is tough to come by. This could be you. : There Is Work, the Kids Are Happy, and the Bills Are Being Paid, but . . .
Frugality seems to be the byword. Whether they’ve lost their jobs and had to tap their savings to stay afloat or have simply trade dinner and a movie out for staying home with a pizza and videos, many Orange County families are being forced by the recession to downscale their lifestyles. The lingering economy slowdown, now officially in its 22nd month, has disabled the Orange County economy more severely than that of any other county in Southern California, according to a recent economic report by Cal State Fullerton. Even those who haven’t experienced layoffs, cutbacks or long unemployment lines have been sobered by the times. It’s the painful morning after the free-wheeling buy-now-pay-later binge of the 1980s and it’s causing many families to rethink their priorities.
Jose Sanchez feels secure in his job as a welder in an electronics parts factory. Business was slow last year, he said, but it has picked up in recent months. Still, he worries about what would happen if he lost his $800-a-month income.
“Yes, it’s a pressure,” he says. “The rent has to be paid. If at any moment I lose my job, I don’t know what I’d do.”
Jose and his wife, Lourdes, pay $565 a month to rent a one-bedroom apartment on Minnie Street, in one of the most economically depressed areas in Orange County. Their three children--Anabel, 16; Jose Luis, 13, and Salvador, 12--sleep on fold-out beds in the living room.
The family arrived in Orange County from Mexico City in 1985. The year before, Jose, now 42, had been laid off from his job in an automobile parts company after a company official gave Jose’s job to a relative. He had worked there 15 years and, said Lourdes, 41, “he was very responsible, never tardy, never missed a day of work.”
Although Jose earned only $1,000 a year in Mexico, the family lived comfortably in a three-bedroom house Jose had built himself with money saved from bonuses and vacation pay.
When Jose was unable to find work that paid as well as his previous job, they decided to come to the United States.
“It would have been easier to stay in Mexico, but we wanted our children to have an education and to give them a better life and future,” said Lourdes, speaking, as did her husband, through an interpreter.
After a series of odd jobs, including working in the fields, Jose landed his factory job 1 1/2 years ago.
Lourdes found work as a seamstress in four different bridal shops, earning $100 a week while putting in 10- to 12-hour days, she said. Recently, she began making custom women’s clothes at home, but at the moment work “is very limited.”
Because they didn’t have to pay as much in taxes and their living expenses were lower, Lourdes said, they actually lived somewhat better in Mexico.
They don’t own a car--Jose takes the bus to work, and the children walk to school--and they can’t afford to buy new furniture for their apartment. Lourdes looks for bargains at the grocery store, spending about $50 a week on food.
They try to live within their means, she said, and have never bought anything on credit.
With rent and food taking up most of their income, Lourdes said, there’s no money left over for any “pleasures.” For fun on Saturdays, Jose plays football and basketball with their children at nearby Century High School, where the school’s Santa Ana Volunteer Youth program has provided each child with a bicycle. On Sundays, Lourdes said, going to Mass “is the happiest moment of the day.”
Asked whether it is difficult for them to live in an area where so many have so much, Lourdes shook her head, pointing out that her son Jose Luis recently told her that he realizes money does not mean happiness.
“I was always afraid the children would want better tennis shoes or a nice toy,” she said, “but Jose Luis told me, ‘No, it’s better to have old tennis shoes; they get beat up anyway. And we can make up our own toys and games.’ ”
Despite their financial difficulties, Lourdes said she and her husband are “very happy. We enjoy our children. That’s our joy in life. They’re healthy and well adjusted. They love their schools and are thrilled with their computer classes. Their English is very good, and they have met wonderful people here.
“I have faith in God that some day their lives will amount to something.”
Lourdes said she dreams of one day owning her own business, although that is, she concedes, a “remote dream.” Jose, who is studying English, said he wants to get ahead in his work and that if a job ever came along offering him more money, he would be “thrilled.”
“But above all else,” Lourdes said, smiling as she looked at her husband of 17 years, “he wants for us to be together. That’s what he has always said.”
INCOME FOR 1991: $12,000 combined
RENT: $565 a month
MAJOR EXPENSES: Rent
CAR PAYMENTS: None
SAVINGS: None
INVESTMENTS: None
RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS: None
