Status
Available
Pages
xii; 329
Collection
Publication
New York : Vintage Books, 2005.
Description
An intimate portrait of poverty-level working families from a range of ethnic backgrounds in America reveals their legacy of low-paying, dead-end jobs, dysfunctional parenting, and substance abuse and charges the government with failing to provide adequate housing, health care, and education. From the author of the Pulitzer Prize winning Arab and Jew, a new book that presents a searing, intimate portrait of working American families struggling against insurmountable odds to escape poverty. As David K. Shipler makes clear in this powerful, humane study, the invisible poor are engaged in the activity most respected in American ideology hard, honest work. But their version of the American Dream is a nightmare: low-paying, dead-end jobs; the profound failure of government to improve upon decaying housing, health care, and education; the failure of families to break the patterns of child abuse and substance abuse. Shipler exposes the interlocking problems by taking us into the sorrowful, infuriating, courageous lives of the poor white and black, Asian and Latino, citizens and immigrants. We encounter them every day, for they do jobs essential to the American economy. We meet drifting farmworkers in North Carolina, exploited garment workers in New Hampshire, illegal immigrants trapped in the steaming kitchens of Los Angeles restaurants, addicts who struggle into productive work from the cruel streets of the nation's capital--each life another aspect of a confounding, far-reaching urgent national crisis. And unlike most works on poverty, this one delves into the calculations of some employers as well--their razor-thin profits, their anxieties about competition from abroad, their frustrations in finding qualified workers. This impassioned book not only dissects the problems, but makes pointed, informed recommendations for change. It is a book that stands to make a difference.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member chellerystick
First, what this book is not: this is not a book about the very poorest of the poor, or about the poor outside of the U.S., or about all of the varieties and challenges of being poor, or about the evidence on policies to help the poor. It's a very limited book, and I know I, for one, will want to
What it is, though, is a long series of true stories of people in the U.S. who have been working for a living and yet cannot make it into the middle class. These stories hint at a number of the components of the problem: transportation, child care, health, expensive financial instruments, opportunities for advancement in low-wage jobs, psychological trauma, immigration requirements. They hint at some of the things that help these people (knowledge of the systems, support structures such as family) as well as the things that impede them (addiction, credit, plain old "bad judgment").
Most importantly, though, these stories emphasize the intertwined elements of poverty in the United States, the entire system that cannot be unraveled with one snip. This is the level at which we must think if we want the United States to be a land of opportunity. Although the stories do not cover all of the relevant ground, I believe they make this point well, and provide food for thought along these lines.
Things that were not discussed enough, I believe, were the importance of race, gender, and disability; the restrictions placed on people who have committed crimes in the past; the disincentives for people to do traditionally "frugal" things such as sharing housing under Section 8 or cooking from scratch with the lack of time and facilities; matters of architecture and urban planning such as access to affordable groceries in inner cities; the poor on the family farm; the economics of medical care, especially such issues as preventive care and reproductive health. I know there are many others I noticed along the way as well.
All in all, recommended, easy to read, and hopefully only the first step on learning about these issues.
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read more on this topic. What it is, though, is a long series of true stories of people in the U.S. who have been working for a living and yet cannot make it into the middle class. These stories hint at a number of the components of the problem: transportation, child care, health, expensive financial instruments, opportunities for advancement in low-wage jobs, psychological trauma, immigration requirements. They hint at some of the things that help these people (knowledge of the systems, support structures such as family) as well as the things that impede them (addiction, credit, plain old "bad judgment").
Most importantly, though, these stories emphasize the intertwined elements of poverty in the United States, the entire system that cannot be unraveled with one snip. This is the level at which we must think if we want the United States to be a land of opportunity. Although the stories do not cover all of the relevant ground, I believe they make this point well, and provide food for thought along these lines.
Things that were not discussed enough, I believe, were the importance of race, gender, and disability; the restrictions placed on people who have committed crimes in the past; the disincentives for people to do traditionally "frugal" things such as sharing housing under Section 8 or cooking from scratch with the lack of time and facilities; matters of architecture and urban planning such as access to affordable groceries in inner cities; the poor on the family farm; the economics of medical care, especially such issues as preventive care and reproductive health. I know there are many others I noticed along the way as well.
All in all, recommended, easy to read, and hopefully only the first step on learning about these issues.
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LibraryThing member livebug
Hey, everyone! Looking for an antidote to all this doom-and-gloom market news? Need a little feel-good pick-me-up?
This ain't it.
Allow me to summarize the pith of this book: Bad choices + no safety net * societal indifference = entrenched, inescapable poverty. And even the bad decisions are
But really, who hasn't needed help in their lives? Who hasn't made some bad decisions and needed to be bailed out? That's where your reliable friends and family come in. I speak from the position of ineffable privilege, since I had NONE of these poverty risk factors (totally stable, affluent upbringing), and managed to make absolutely NO stupid teenage decisions to derail my march to the Ivy League.
But I digress. Even I, with advantages a-plenty -- personal, parental, educational, societal -- made some stupid decisions as a young independent and needed to be Bailed Out by my parents with cash. Had I no safely net, no one to help me out, these silly, easily-made errors would likely be dogging me and my credit rating still. Stupid, easily fixed, and yet somehow we let families be crushed by this for generations.
This book took a much different tone than Nickel and Dimed, although it covers a lot of the same ground. It did a much better job, I think, in examining the many factors that contribute to entrenched poverty, and doesn't canonize any of the people it pictures, the way Barbara Ehrenreich's book did a little. Not a quick read, and not uplifting -- it left me more disheartened with the problem than Fired Up, Ready To Go -- but still, compelling.
Another thing this book taught me: I am the only middle-class American that cleans my own house. Even my robot slave Scooba went all SkyNet on me and I mop my own floor. Seriously, a chapter of this book was devoted to the unhealthy stressors of poverty, which included cleaning one's own house. Once people claw their way above the poverty line, apparently their first call is to the Merry Maids.
This ain't it.
Allow me to summarize the pith of this book: Bad choices + no safety net * societal indifference = entrenched, inescapable poverty. And even the bad decisions are
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decisions that seem to be made for people, rather than by them. Abuse as children, crumbling schools, parents who can't advocate for their kids, unreliable transportation, bad habits ... it's just a long, long laundry list of tragedy. And most of them could be fixed with just a bit of coordination and a bit of help. (Not to say a BAILOUT, since those aren't for people, right? You just keep your head down, wage slave, and keep working. Nothing to see over here.)But really, who hasn't needed help in their lives? Who hasn't made some bad decisions and needed to be bailed out? That's where your reliable friends and family come in. I speak from the position of ineffable privilege, since I had NONE of these poverty risk factors (totally stable, affluent upbringing), and managed to make absolutely NO stupid teenage decisions to derail my march to the Ivy League.
But I digress. Even I, with advantages a-plenty -- personal, parental, educational, societal -- made some stupid decisions as a young independent and needed to be Bailed Out by my parents with cash. Had I no safely net, no one to help me out, these silly, easily-made errors would likely be dogging me and my credit rating still. Stupid, easily fixed, and yet somehow we let families be crushed by this for generations.
This book took a much different tone than Nickel and Dimed, although it covers a lot of the same ground. It did a much better job, I think, in examining the many factors that contribute to entrenched poverty, and doesn't canonize any of the people it pictures, the way Barbara Ehrenreich's book did a little. Not a quick read, and not uplifting -- it left me more disheartened with the problem than Fired Up, Ready To Go -- but still, compelling.
Another thing this book taught me: I am the only middle-class American that cleans my own house. Even my robot slave Scooba went all SkyNet on me and I mop my own floor. Seriously, a chapter of this book was devoted to the unhealthy stressors of poverty, which included cleaning one's own house. Once people claw their way above the poverty line, apparently their first call is to the Merry Maids.
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LibraryThing member jcbrunner
A well written journalistic take on the losers of the American Dream. The poor and the immigrants (an overlapping group) are people much talked about but hardly ever listened to. Shipler gives these unheards a voice and presents their broken lives. Often, a little leniency, a little cash and a
Nowhere in the First World does poverty carry such a stigma of failure than in the US. Nowhere can you see so much poor people working at menial jobs: Shoe shiners, porters, shopping greeters, ... The lack of labour protection, decent minimal wages and mandatory health insurance has created a sub-proletariat without an escape hatch. In the 19th century, some rose from railsplitter to lawyer to president. In the 21st century, it is nearly impossible to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills. Twenty percent of Americans believe to be in the top one percent of income earners and a further twenty percent expect to reach that exclusive group in their lifetime. The poor could shatter the faulty math (a US global specialty) and are shunned aside. Poor public services, poor schools and little political interest. Local church and charity activities may alleviate the suffering, but only a rejuvenated New Deal could really make a difference. Unfortunately, the poor don't vote and do not count in the American (multi-)millionaire democracy.
Shipler enlightens his readers about the problems of the invisible and the unheard: Abuse and bad parenting, malnutrition, disease, bad schooling, the lack of a safety net and connections ... Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. Solutions can only be systemic and require attention and care - not a forte of American bureaucracy. This brings me to the only negative point of this book: Shipler is a journalist not a social scientist. A framework would have helped to sort the anecdotes into categories and develop some hypotheses. The sweeping essay of the final chapter is only a first step in the right direction. A pointer to further reading is also missing. Overall, a good, important book that more Americans should read.
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little thought could avert major disasters. But nobody cares. Their employers seem much more interested in creating a surplus proletarian army; the bureaucracy is time-starved and stingy and banks and insurers increase shareholder values instead of providing community services. Shipler presents his subjects in a sympathetic and upbeat way. Ever the American optimist - quite a contrast to Zola's misérables.Nowhere in the First World does poverty carry such a stigma of failure than in the US. Nowhere can you see so much poor people working at menial jobs: Shoe shiners, porters, shopping greeters, ... The lack of labour protection, decent minimal wages and mandatory health insurance has created a sub-proletariat without an escape hatch. In the 19th century, some rose from railsplitter to lawyer to president. In the 21st century, it is nearly impossible to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills. Twenty percent of Americans believe to be in the top one percent of income earners and a further twenty percent expect to reach that exclusive group in their lifetime. The poor could shatter the faulty math (a US global specialty) and are shunned aside. Poor public services, poor schools and little political interest. Local church and charity activities may alleviate the suffering, but only a rejuvenated New Deal could really make a difference. Unfortunately, the poor don't vote and do not count in the American (multi-)millionaire democracy.
Shipler enlightens his readers about the problems of the invisible and the unheard: Abuse and bad parenting, malnutrition, disease, bad schooling, the lack of a safety net and connections ... Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. Solutions can only be systemic and require attention and care - not a forte of American bureaucracy. This brings me to the only negative point of this book: Shipler is a journalist not a social scientist. A framework would have helped to sort the anecdotes into categories and develop some hypotheses. The sweeping essay of the final chapter is only a first step in the right direction. A pointer to further reading is also missing. Overall, a good, important book that more Americans should read.
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LibraryThing member janey47
This is the book I recommend to people who were engaged by Barbara Ehrenreich's book Nickeled and Dimed. I find The Working Poor to be FAR more powerful, because the people profiled here are not living on minimum wage for a lark, for a short time, for a magazine story. This is their real life, and
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the real decisions they are forced into. Shipler is a sympathetic yet objective listener. I admire his work and this book in particular. Show Less
LibraryThing member cestovatela
Journalist David Shipler explores the darker side of the American Dream, demonstrating that while it's possible to rise from rags to riches in the United States, it's far harder than most of us imagine. Although I felt the writer sometimes went overboard to sympathize with the "working poor" he
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profiles, this book clearly demonstrates the interlocking difficulties to combine to keep people poor. Most of his subjects are at least partially responsible for their own financial woes, but poor education, bad credit, bad families and unhelpful government programs collide to make it impossible to recover after just one mistake. I'm still thinking about some of the ideas in this book 11 months after reading it. No matter what your political persuasion, I guarantee you'll find this examination of the mechanics of poverty informative. Show Less
LibraryThing member BookAddict
This is an edited version of a poorly written hasty reply that I put on Amazon out of anger.
It was clear to me after having read only a few pages that this book was written with a right wing slant utilizing typical right wing stereotypes. I noticed that there wasn't one person in the list of those
In the chapter on child abuse there isn't a poor parent in America that hasn't been abused by their parents and all are at risk, if not already abusing their own kids! He feels that they all need to take parenting classes!
When the author discusses illegal immigrants, particularly farm and factory workers, and describes their terrible living conditions he gives the impression that poor immigrants must be terrible slobs that can't see anything wrong with their living conditions and are satisfied with them as long as they have work. He wasn't able to find a single illegal immigrant farmer or factory worker in the entire United States that had anything negative to say about these conditions! Does this author really expect people to buy this?
The author found a token *middle class* white woman who had been unfortunate enough to have divorced and fallen from her higher position in society. Of course, according to the author, there are no low income people in America that haven't fallen from this higher rung on the economic ladder that are literate so he must use this example. Here he portrays her as making the correct choice of working part time to spend more time with her kids and to send them to private school by making sacrifices in other areas while she lives off of the generous support payments that her husband provides. He can't use a mother on government assistance as an example of working only part time to stay home with the kids because that would not sit well with the affluent readers.
He consistently portrays the low income person’s home as dirty, dishes everywhere, clothes on the floor, filthy conditions generally. They are deficient in homemaking skills!
He insists that they haven’t any ‘soft skills’, a spin phrase used by the welfare reform proponents to denote cases that must be forced into training programs which consist of resume writing, interviewing skills, basic computer usage, getting to work on time, etc. According to this author, all poor people have low self esteem and can't even look at an employer or speak properly when in an interview, nor arrive to work on time, or call in when they can't show up for work. The author makes the reader feel that they are all so terribly damaged and need help in this area in the form of forced participation in a *program* that will address these soft skills and then direct the poor into *entry level* positions. After all, do you really expect employers to pay decent wages to people when they are so damaged and so useless that they are barely even human? They are costing companies money by putting up with them you know!
Really is just amazes me that so many readers are taken in by this book. I wonder how it is that nearly every low income person I have ever known had excellent skills in time management, budgeting, problem solving, and are computer literate today as well. They have all kept relatively clean houses and none of them beat their kids, in fact they were usually the first ones to point out minor flaws in each other’s parenting and offer helpful suggestions. They develop fine networks of bartering and support amongst each other. They are skilled at resume writing and communication skills.
So how come they aren't working or working and still low income? Well, there are no unskilled jobs that pay enough money to support a single person, never mind a family. There is a lack of economically feasible and decent childcare. Tuition costs are so high that only a fool would go into that kind of debt for a higher education with little means to pay it off upon graduation. Jobs once performed by unskilled labour now require a masters degree to get hired. There are often a thousand applicants for every one position advertised. Low paying jobs don't have promotion opportunities. Neither do they provide raises for skills, experience, and time on the job. They may, for example, offer a 2% raise when inflation is 5% which puts the low income person further into the hole. They call this a raise. Employees wages are decreasing every year to the benefit of the employers. There is also the cost of public transportation or a car if they are rural, clothes for work and quicker more costly meals because of the time factor. The low wage worker ends up without enough left to sustain them to go to work. I guess low income people are supposed to work hungry and like it. This will really increase self esteem! Does this author actually expect us to buy the idea that a lower income job, usually a position that no one wants to do, doesn't lead anywhere, and doesn't pay enough to fill their stomach or pay their bills to increase people's self esteem!? Let the author work at one of these low wage jobs for a few weeks and see how his self esteem is.
While I don't dispute that the people mentioned in this book are actual people with the problems cited, the author has conveniently selected a group of experiences which very carefully fit the spin doctors stereotypical view of the poor in order to justify their welfare reform, low wages, and forced back to work *programs*. Very clever and hardly noticeable by the general population who are not acutely aware of the real issues and the elaborately planned, corporate funded, political brainwashing attempt to divert their attention from the problems of the free market system to the defects of the poor.
Absolutely no mention was given to the responsibility of corporations in paying livable wages and his end remarks regarding government responsibility were diluted at best. The author mentions a few employers who say they can't cut into their profit margins or it will put the business at risk. These are all small operations he mentions. Does the risk to employees mean anything? Have corporations that have billions a year in profits been mentioned? NO! We can't upset the corporate guys or they won't buy the book !
Though there are many problems amongst lower income people these problems are almost always caused by poverty itself and could be significantly reduced by providing universal health care, access to decent and affordable housing, livable wages, reliable and efficient transportation, affordable food and nutritional supplements, affordable and reliable child care, and a comprehensive education for all members of our society.
Don’t buy the SPIN!
It was clear to me after having read only a few pages that this book was written with a right wing slant utilizing typical right wing stereotypes. I noticed that there wasn't one person in the list of those
Show More
consulted in the writing of this book, or that offered an editorial review, that wasn’t a newspaper or affluent. No anti-poverty, women’s, immigrant, or any other group that represents the poor were included. All people who have much to gain from giving the average American the impression that the poor are poor due to their own defects. I would have thrown this book out except that I feel that you must know your enemy to fight them. Reading this book was infuriating. The author made it appear that most low income people have a combination of drug problems, alcohol problems, childhood abuse issues, poor parenting skills, poor budgeting skills, and an incomplete education. In the chapter on child abuse there isn't a poor parent in America that hasn't been abused by their parents and all are at risk, if not already abusing their own kids! He feels that they all need to take parenting classes!
When the author discusses illegal immigrants, particularly farm and factory workers, and describes their terrible living conditions he gives the impression that poor immigrants must be terrible slobs that can't see anything wrong with their living conditions and are satisfied with them as long as they have work. He wasn't able to find a single illegal immigrant farmer or factory worker in the entire United States that had anything negative to say about these conditions! Does this author really expect people to buy this?
The author found a token *middle class* white woman who had been unfortunate enough to have divorced and fallen from her higher position in society. Of course, according to the author, there are no low income people in America that haven't fallen from this higher rung on the economic ladder that are literate so he must use this example. Here he portrays her as making the correct choice of working part time to spend more time with her kids and to send them to private school by making sacrifices in other areas while she lives off of the generous support payments that her husband provides. He can't use a mother on government assistance as an example of working only part time to stay home with the kids because that would not sit well with the affluent readers.
He consistently portrays the low income person’s home as dirty, dishes everywhere, clothes on the floor, filthy conditions generally. They are deficient in homemaking skills!
He insists that they haven’t any ‘soft skills’, a spin phrase used by the welfare reform proponents to denote cases that must be forced into training programs which consist of resume writing, interviewing skills, basic computer usage, getting to work on time, etc. According to this author, all poor people have low self esteem and can't even look at an employer or speak properly when in an interview, nor arrive to work on time, or call in when they can't show up for work. The author makes the reader feel that they are all so terribly damaged and need help in this area in the form of forced participation in a *program* that will address these soft skills and then direct the poor into *entry level* positions. After all, do you really expect employers to pay decent wages to people when they are so damaged and so useless that they are barely even human? They are costing companies money by putting up with them you know!
Really is just amazes me that so many readers are taken in by this book. I wonder how it is that nearly every low income person I have ever known had excellent skills in time management, budgeting, problem solving, and are computer literate today as well. They have all kept relatively clean houses and none of them beat their kids, in fact they were usually the first ones to point out minor flaws in each other’s parenting and offer helpful suggestions. They develop fine networks of bartering and support amongst each other. They are skilled at resume writing and communication skills.
So how come they aren't working or working and still low income? Well, there are no unskilled jobs that pay enough money to support a single person, never mind a family. There is a lack of economically feasible and decent childcare. Tuition costs are so high that only a fool would go into that kind of debt for a higher education with little means to pay it off upon graduation. Jobs once performed by unskilled labour now require a masters degree to get hired. There are often a thousand applicants for every one position advertised. Low paying jobs don't have promotion opportunities. Neither do they provide raises for skills, experience, and time on the job. They may, for example, offer a 2% raise when inflation is 5% which puts the low income person further into the hole. They call this a raise. Employees wages are decreasing every year to the benefit of the employers. There is also the cost of public transportation or a car if they are rural, clothes for work and quicker more costly meals because of the time factor. The low wage worker ends up without enough left to sustain them to go to work. I guess low income people are supposed to work hungry and like it. This will really increase self esteem! Does this author actually expect us to buy the idea that a lower income job, usually a position that no one wants to do, doesn't lead anywhere, and doesn't pay enough to fill their stomach or pay their bills to increase people's self esteem!? Let the author work at one of these low wage jobs for a few weeks and see how his self esteem is.
While I don't dispute that the people mentioned in this book are actual people with the problems cited, the author has conveniently selected a group of experiences which very carefully fit the spin doctors stereotypical view of the poor in order to justify their welfare reform, low wages, and forced back to work *programs*. Very clever and hardly noticeable by the general population who are not acutely aware of the real issues and the elaborately planned, corporate funded, political brainwashing attempt to divert their attention from the problems of the free market system to the defects of the poor.
Absolutely no mention was given to the responsibility of corporations in paying livable wages and his end remarks regarding government responsibility were diluted at best. The author mentions a few employers who say they can't cut into their profit margins or it will put the business at risk. These are all small operations he mentions. Does the risk to employees mean anything? Have corporations that have billions a year in profits been mentioned? NO! We can't upset the corporate guys or they won't buy the book !
Though there are many problems amongst lower income people these problems are almost always caused by poverty itself and could be significantly reduced by providing universal health care, access to decent and affordable housing, livable wages, reliable and efficient transportation, affordable food and nutritional supplements, affordable and reliable child care, and a comprehensive education for all members of our society.
Don’t buy the SPIN!
Show Less
LibraryThing member kuzmatt9
A well-researched and even-handed survey of the working poor in America. An inundation of anecdotes and research show the reader that the road from welfare to work is difficult for anybody, but especially those who are most at risk for illness, mental stress, lack of transportation, addiction, and
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violence. Easy to read and impossible to forget. Show Less
LibraryThing member phillyexpat
I like how unbiased the book is-it doesn't veer into sanctifying its subjects, nor does it fully condemn them. You can visualize the homes and the jobs and the people easily. It's a really well done book thus far. It reminds me a lot of Random Family: Coming of Age in the Bronx, come to think of it.
LibraryThing member etxgardener
I know plenty of peopple who have worked low-paying part-time jobs just for a store discount or for extra "walking around" money. However, working these kinds of minimum wage jobs as one's only income is another story all together.
This book reports with devastating detail, mostly through case
Shipler ends the book saying that America should have the will to addres the problems of this large segment of our population & that the country should be ashamed that this hasn't been done already. I happen to agree with him.
This book reports with devastating detail, mostly through case
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study-like stories, just how soul-deadening and frightening life on the edge of poverty really is. He also shows, how, unfortunately, there is no easy solution to the problem. The lives of the working poor are a tangle of bad education, dysfunctional families, bad health (with no health insurance) and a lack of the basic life skills that make for reliable employees. Shipler ends the book saying that America should have the will to addres the problems of this large segment of our population & that the country should be ashamed that this hasn't been done already. I happen to agree with him.
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LibraryThing member Darcia
David K. Shipler tackles this difficult subject with compassion and honesty. This is not one of those books that is boring to read, with endless facts and figures. Shipler engages his readers with his conversational style of writing. He introduces us to some of the working poor, tells us of their
Most people are not poor because they are stupid or lazy. Many of us, in fact, are one bad choice or one serious illness away from being part of the working poor. This book sheds light on a subject that has too long been swept under the carpet. I believe everyone in the U.S. should read this one.
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hardships and their victories. Most people are not poor because they are stupid or lazy. Many of us, in fact, are one bad choice or one serious illness away from being part of the working poor. This book sheds light on a subject that has too long been swept under the carpet. I believe everyone in the U.S. should read this one.
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LibraryThing member BryanThomasS
A powerful examination of the poverty right under our noses here in the US, people who work and live near us but are struggling to get by and how the system contributes to their failure and keeps them slaves of poverty. An important, well written book.
LibraryThing member speedy74
Shipler's well researched analysis of the working poor prompted feelings of anger and futility as I contemplated how some of these experiences could happen in one of the world's richest industrial nations. His investigative journalism shows the reader how precariously many of our working class live
Throughout the book, Shipler does an excellent job of detailing the complexities of problems facing the working poor as well as the nation as we design programs and incentives to support the our lower socio-economic class. The book includes analysis of problems within schools, medical clinics, among migrant workers, in U.S. sweatshops, and among immigrant populations. Some of the problems explored include: limited health care, poor transportation options, limited access to daycare, lack of parenting skills, poor and unsafe housing options, the need for job skills training, and list goes on and on. Shipler also explores programs that have made a difference and makes recommendations for a more holistic approach to welfare reform and social change.
While some of the statistics are probably outdated by now, this is still a good read for teachers, doctors, landlords, employers, or anyone who wants to see change in the world.
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where any unexpected circumstance can derail or even ruin a family's financial hopes and dreams. Throughout the book, Shipler does an excellent job of detailing the complexities of problems facing the working poor as well as the nation as we design programs and incentives to support the our lower socio-economic class. The book includes analysis of problems within schools, medical clinics, among migrant workers, in U.S. sweatshops, and among immigrant populations. Some of the problems explored include: limited health care, poor transportation options, limited access to daycare, lack of parenting skills, poor and unsafe housing options, the need for job skills training, and list goes on and on. Shipler also explores programs that have made a difference and makes recommendations for a more holistic approach to welfare reform and social change.
While some of the statistics are probably outdated by now, this is still a good read for teachers, doctors, landlords, employers, or anyone who wants to see change in the world.
Show Less
LibraryThing member SeriousGrace
You could either pick up The Working Poor and feel really good about your own situation (if you are employed and are living well within your means) or you could read it and feel absolutely terrible for a myriad of reasons; you feel guilty about your well-off situation or you, yourself are feeling
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the stress of mounting debt and the growing impossibility of making ends meet. Shipler takes an unflinching look at the men and women trying to stay afloat financially as well as emotionally when they are mired in a variety of debts. He interviews men and women from all walks of life; the good, the bad, and the ugly. You have no choice but to feel something for these people. The myriad of emotions range from pity to disgust and everything in between. Show Less
LibraryThing member sammii507
This is a powerful book. It's not pretty or easy...in fact at times it had me nearly in tears. It does a very good job at illustratinf the hardship that the working poor face, the lack of options they are given, and the cold cruelty that they face from those who think they are better because they
My only problem with this book was the author's attempt to remain neutral politically. The problem is very obviously not a neutral one, and there are obvious wrongs and obvious rights. By ignoring (or at least downplaying) the overreaching socio-economic causes of poverty, Shipler has nearly undermined some of his own arguments. It should not be necessary to tread some wishy-washy political center in a situation where the truth holds a very obvious liberal bias.
That said, this is definitely a book worth reading.
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have been given more opportunities.My only problem with this book was the author's attempt to remain neutral politically. The problem is very obviously not a neutral one, and there are obvious wrongs and obvious rights. By ignoring (or at least downplaying) the overreaching socio-economic causes of poverty, Shipler has nearly undermined some of his own arguments. It should not be necessary to tread some wishy-washy political center in a situation where the truth holds a very obvious liberal bias.
That said, this is definitely a book worth reading.
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LibraryThing member Dreesie
This book is nearly 10 years old now, so parts are certainly a little out of date (especially the section on healthcare in the final chapter). For the most part, though, what is most depressing is how little things have changed.
Whether the poor are native born or immigrant, white, black, Asian, or
Social services are often weak--but many do not even receive what they qualify for. The hoops that require jumping can be arduous (and require more time off work), and staff can be rude and difficult and shame recipients.
Drugs and alcohol pull many of the working poor farther down--as do the childrearing practices employed by overtired and hungry parents. Shipler discusses how patchy services do not help because everything is interconnected--a child's asthma results on missed school, lack of health insurance results in no meds and worse attacks and more missed school, a doctor's appt results in hours lost at work (or a job lost), and the coackroaches in the cheap apartment are the root of all of these issues. But the family cannot move because there is nowhere else for them to go that is on a busline and moving is expensive.
So, still an interesting book, if a bit out of date due to its age. Also, depressing.
Whether the poor are native born or immigrant, white, black, Asian, or
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Hispanic, they face a stream of bureaucratic, housing, childcare, transportation, and healthcare crises--and one of which can cause an employment crisis. Meanwhile, the schools failed many of them and are, in turn, failing their children (often because the parents don't trust teachers and administration based on their own experiences). Hunger and chronic seemingly minor health conditions (especially asthma and allergies, as well as learning disabilities and poor eyesight) can strongly affect a student's ability to learn--things that, for even a slightly more prosperous family, would be solvable. Allergies and asthma can be helped by moving to a roach- and carpet-free apartment, glasses fix vision problems, and demanding proper school services help with learning problems. Many of the poor cannot simply do these things without risking jobs due to transportation or missed wages from time off.Social services are often weak--but many do not even receive what they qualify for. The hoops that require jumping can be arduous (and require more time off work), and staff can be rude and difficult and shame recipients.
Drugs and alcohol pull many of the working poor farther down--as do the childrearing practices employed by overtired and hungry parents. Shipler discusses how patchy services do not help because everything is interconnected--a child's asthma results on missed school, lack of health insurance results in no meds and worse attacks and more missed school, a doctor's appt results in hours lost at work (or a job lost), and the coackroaches in the cheap apartment are the root of all of these issues. But the family cannot move because there is nowhere else for them to go that is on a busline and moving is expensive.
So, still an interesting book, if a bit out of date due to its age. Also, depressing.
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LibraryThing member Bricker
Very insightful and familiar. Free of judgement and more observational than I had expected, the biggest idea that is presented early on, is that poverty or struggle isn't normally based on one thing, but a collection of events...some chicken/egg, but still a different way of thinking.
Subjects
Awards
National Book Critics Circle Award (Finalist — General Nonfiction — 2004)
Salon Book Award (2004)
Language
Physical description
xii, 329 p.; 21 cm
ISBN
0375708219 / 9780375708213