Maine is known to be the lowest income state per capita in New England. Although the state has been working hard to increase social standards and well being for many of its inhabitants, much of the state remains poor with a struggling working class trying to gain an upper hand on a better standard of living.
When we think of Maine, we often picture a beautiful vacation destination with picturesque lakes and seaports with many seafood restaurants, villages, and bed and breakfasts to explore. Although for parts of the state this is true, and much or the states income does come from tourism, a large portion of the workers are minimum wage, hard working poor living a low wage life.
The fishing industry in particular is a very difficult life for the lobstermen to live by. Most of the industry is passed down from generation to generation and it is a family operated business, but it is still trying on the bank account, and body. The early hours, bitter cold, and fluctuation of the market do not help any of these factors as well.
For my “living the low wage life” project I hope to explore the lives and work of fishermen in Maine and Northern New England counties. Although we often do not think about this as a problematic area of the country, it is a trying industry and for those involved the downfall of the market means a meager paycheck for the fishermen that year. Maine’s unemployment rate is consistently growing, and the state puts new quotas on the price of fish and how many can be caught at one time. This makes it difficult for all workers to make even a decent amount of money to last through a harsh winter.
I look forward to exploring this topic as my grandmother, hailing from back-country Maine, grew up under the poverty line with a very unfruitful farm. I know how hard it was to survive the winters with little money because you cannot produce or sell when tourists are not visiting and the land is unable to be farmed.
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