It's a question that has fixated philosophers for generations: What are the ingredients of a successful life
?
It's also a question that Patrice H. wrestles with in far grittier terms every day in the small Alabama town where she lives. Patrice, 42, works for an auto parts dealer building headlamps, and her definition of a quality life is straightforward but profound: "Working a job where I wouldn't have to live paycheck to paycheck and also have time to spend with my kids."
Working 12 hours a day, six days a week for $9 an hour, Patrice finds herself weighing the school functions and weekend afternoons with her children that she misses against the grinding shifts she devotes to building them even a thin floor of economic security.
"I have to see them less and work more in order for them to have a good life," says Patrice, whose full name and specific location we have withheld to preserve her anonymity. "And then on the weekends, if I'm off, I'm tired from working six or seven days of the week. It just makes it kind of difficult. You can succeed, but it's going to come with a price. You have to sacrifice."
Like Patrice, many of the Americans surveyed in the 21st Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor Poll find it a daunting challenge to balance work, family, and their desire to contribute to their community
