On most summer days, Laura Millikan’s 10-year-old son begs her for a McDonald’s ice cream cone. It’s a $1 treat. She kisses his head and tells him maybe next week. Millikan is a single mom living outside Seattle who works two jobs: 30 hours a week as an assistant property manager for an apartment building and a few extra hours at a college, arranging bulletin boards and making photocopies for professors.