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Originally Posted by CFrance
Yay, tomwed. It was good. There is another, better one on the subject, and I am struggling to remember the title. It's better because it followed actual, real-life situations of some working people at the poverty level, and their struggles to survive, and the many catch-22 situations they were put in because of their jobs. Dang. I'll think of it.
I believe the book is called The Working Poor: Invisible In America, by David Shipler From a review:
Shipler shows how liberals and conservatives are both partly right–that practically every life story contains failure by both the society and the individual. Braced by hard fact and personal testimony, he unravels the forces that confine people in the quagmire of low wages. And unlike most works on poverty, this book also offers compelling portraits of employers struggling against razor-thin profits and competition from abroad. With pointed recommendations for change that challenge both parties (my ed.), The Working Poor stands to make a difference.
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Although not a substitute for the book this interview
click here gave me a sense of what you were saying. I don't know if I could read one sad story after another.
The Nickel and Dimmed Book is not as tough a read. The author works in Walmart, as a temp house cleaner, and in a fast food place as I remember. I guess I had similar jobs while I was in HS and breaks during college. For me, there was always light at the end of a short tunnel. I worked for Wedgewood during a summer break and I was side by side with a temp worker older then my dad and he was in a great mood one day because he was making the last payment on a refrigerator. My dad would buy scratch and dent appliances and fix them as needed but he didn't need to get a loan to buy one.