I have seen too many post with comment the likes of "if you can afford to have Internet [which you obviously have because you post on, or read, Daily Kos] you're not really poor." I have had similar things said to me about the fact that I have a cell phone. As one of the many cyclically unemployed college educated Americans, I am sick and tired of being told that my one and only way to find work and try to get out of poverty is proof that I must not be poor.
I will start by saying that part of being employed on and off (and usually part time) since I finished undergrad five and a half years ago is that there are good times and bad times financially. Times I would consider my family very poor and times that I would not. That being said there has never been a time I did not have internet access and a cell phone. Why? Because I have to work.
About half of the last five years I have worked as a substitute teacher. For those not familiar, this means that I work when and only when a regular teacher is sick or out for a personal day. When they take the day off, they go online and tell the sub service (think temp agency) that they need the day off. When they do this the computer starts looking for a sub. The computer finds a sub one of two ways; a sub finds the listing on the internet and takes it or the computer calls a sub on the phone. In order to work on a regular basis always-on internet and phone are absolutely needed. Keep in mind this is for a job that pays about minimum wage (which is about poverty line for two people) over the course of a year.
I have worked summers on an on call temp job. If you are called and do not answer the phone immediately the job goes to someone else. This leaves two options, sit by the phone all day and ignore your family or have a cell phone.
I have found two of my jobs while living over an hour away. I found them through the internet also, they were not posted in newspapers or on local job boards and I would never have found them without looking online. This leaves two options, spend money I supposedly can’t have since I am poor paying for internet or spend the same money I supposedly don’t have driving to the library (since there is no bus service and it is too far to walk).
I know that if I did not have internet and a cell phone I would not have had ANY of the jobs I have had since I finished my undergraduate education. While some of the working poor are lucky (if you look at it the right way) enough to live in areas that we can find work without the internet, many of us are not.
Internet is NOT a luxury for many of the working poor. Having a working heater, door handle, window, etc in my car is a luxury I cannot afford right now, but having the means to find work in the internet age is a necessity.