Nov 6, 2009 9:09 pm US/Central
Mom, Daughter Face Unemployment Together
Richton Park Duo Represent A Grim Story In National Jobless Peak
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Lauren Jackson, left, and her mother, Lillian, share more than genetics. They're also unemployed.
CBS
Two generations of Chicago area women are among those caught in the tightening unemployment vise.
CBS2's Mike Parker reports a story that began with great promise and has now spiraled into despair for the main players, a Richton Park working mom and her daughter. They've both become victims of the recession.
Lauren Jackson seemed to have it all. She was homecoming queen at Rich Central High School. She had a gift for writing that later took her to the top at Hampton University in Virginia. All that was left was to get an entry level job in television news. It hasn't happened.
"I still have my moments where I want to scream, I want to yell," she said. "I just want to say, what was the point of my going to school on time, graduating, being at the top of my class?"
After finishing college, she moved in with her mother in far south suburban Richton Park. She then became one of the many college grads who can't find work in the field she was trained for.
She said she told her mother, "'Give me a month and I'm out of here.'" A year and half later, she's still there.
Lauren did find two part-time retail jobs that pay her just a little more than minimum wage. It's a good thing. Last spring, her mother Lillian lost her job at IBM.
Lillian Jackson said she was paid severance "to help you out while you're unemployed for a minute." She agreed that it's been a long minute.
Now their savings are almost gone and they get groceries from a local food pantry.
Lauren Jackson no longer seems to have it all.
"This is frustrating, this is beyond frustrating," she said. Said she cries about her plight.
She has become one of some two million college graduates who have been unable to find full-time work since the recession began in December of last year.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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