Paycheck to Paycheck: The Life and Times of Katrina Gilbert

Touching and powerful documentary, that gains much from it's plain, heartfelt telling.

One year in the life of one of America's working poor. People who have jobs, sometimes more than one, or lose them and desperately want to make a life, but can't seem to get a break. It would be hard to imagine even the most hard hearted call Ms. Gilbert a 'taker' -- watching her struggle to do the best she can for her three children while earning $9.49 a hour. She works as a Certified Nursing Assistant at a nursing home, a job that demands expertise both human and medical. Yet she earns too little to be able to do anything but barely scrape by.

A stinging and powerful rebuke to those who feel the poor somehow deserve their fate, the film does so much by letting us get to know one woman and her story, instead of only trying to paint a huge canvas to tackle one of the most important crises facing our nation.

There is no doubt that this is a very well done and moving documentary about a single mother on the brink of poverty who is doing her best to care for her 3 children on an income of $9.49 an hour. She is without a doubt a nice, compassionate person, as evidenced by the reverence with which the nursing home residents that she serves regard her, and there is no doubt that she loves and wants the best for her children.

And yet, the question nags, at least for this viewer: WHY DID SHE HAVE TO HAVE THREE CHILDREN? Don't people THINK before they allow themselves to conceive? Don't they ask themselves, "can I afford to support a child before I let myself get pregnant?" Apparently not. Rather than talk about defunding Planned Parenthood, as is now the case, we should consider doubling or tripling its funding so that people like Katrina Gilbert can learn something about contraception.