4 Story 4: Lauren

Lauren is a middle-class European American woman from El Paso.

Demographics

• Grew up middle class but moved often due to her parents’ job instability
• Father was a gas station worker
• Mother was a waitress in a busy local restaurant
• Only biological child – parents adopted her cousins 1 boy, 1 girl due to the Department of Child Services involved in a domestic violence case with their biological parents. She was the oldest and often cared for her cousins/adopted siblings
• Dropped out of school but finished high school with a GED – then pursued an AA in accounting. Did not finish college due to her family’s financial instability
• Worked throughout high school and college to pay for her cousins and help her parents
• Lives in her parents’ house – they are now deceased and she is raising her cousins/adopted brother and sister. They are 14 & 15 years old.
• Has 12K in student loans and growing credit card debt 7K
• Owns parents home, worth 130,000.00 – the mortgage is 985.00 for 10 more years
• In a heterosexual dating relationship (does not live with her boyfriend)