The Working Poor Invisible in America (Audible Audio Edition) David K Shipler Peter Ganim Audible Studios Books
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Nobody who works hard should be poor in America, writes Pulitzer Prize-winner David Shipler. Clear-headed, rigorous, and compassionate, he journeys deeply into the lives of individual store clerks and factory workers, farm laborers and sweat-shop seamstresses, illegal immigrants in menial jobs, and Americans saddled with immense student loans and paltry wages. They are known as the working poor.
They perform labor essential to America's comfort. They are white and black, Latino and Asian - men and women in small towns and city slums trapped near the poverty line, where the margins are so tight that even minor setbacks can cause devastating chain reactions. 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 will challenge Republicans and Democrats alike, The Working Poor stands to make a difference.
The Working Poor Invisible in America (Audible Audio Edition) David K Shipler Peter Ganim Audible Studios Books
"The Working Poor" by David Shipler is not an easy read. Densely written, it covers the lives of many poor people living in the U.S., struggling to subsist. The book's title is apt, because in many cases people in poverty truly do work. They work hard in their menial jobs where they often aren't promoted; they work hard to escape brutal pasts; in short, lots of them work hard to keep their lives together.Shipler conveys in a stark way how common social issues can lead to poverty and how various problems within poor families affect each other negatively, like dominoes falling down. A woman who is sexually abused as a child may have a habit of picking bad men later in life or getting pregnant as a teenager, which leads to monetary problems in adulthood. Hardened men with rough, criminal pasts may have difficulty getting hired for jobs and experience low self-esteem. A lady who suffers through a lifetime of poverty forgoes dental work, leading to a mouth with no teeth, hindering her chances of getting promoted at work. Then there are the babies and kids who are severely malnourished because food is a more flexible expense -- these hardships just scratch the surface of Shipler's book.
Shipler reveals that poverty is prevalent across ethnicities. Some of these people have made foolish decisions in life that have resulted in bad outcomes. Sometimes, however, social policies are out of whack or companies fleece the poor, leading to further degradation. Shipler shows how those who don't have money problems can be condescending, unforgiving and cruel, though he also writes about people who extend helping hands. Luckily, the author doesn't lionize the poor or overly criticize the powers that be. He simply tells one dismal story after another, presenting hidden lives in a matter-of-fact way that resonates.
I found Chapter 9, "Dreams," to be interesting. It talks about bright-eyed poor kids in less than ideal schools. One of the teachers, labeled in the book as "Mrs. C," relates how the students under her tutelage were constantly late, not motivated and rowdy in class due to never getting attention at home. They received poor grades because of these issues, possibly depriving themselves of decent futures in already difficult circumstances.
Parents who fail to help their children with homework or who don't convey the importance of education hinder the prospects of their offspring, according to Shipler. Oftentimes these parents had miserable experiences when attending school themselves. Teachers interviewed in the book discuss how they are rudely treated by certain parents and students alike -- one said she feared for her life. Conversely, many parents fail to communicate with teachers at all, skipping parent-teacher conferences no matter how poorly their son or daughter may be doing academically or behaviorally.
In students' defense, many poor ones are malnourished and must deal with issues at home that would make learning at school very hard.
Shipler found some teachers in low-income schools who were subpar, simply not good at relating information to students. Others covered material too fast, leaving many students in the class befuddled and blank.
The last few chapters have stories of help, hope and success. The formula for achievement is given, though the author admits it's often elusive: a close family with two wage earners; self-confidence and the ability to find and hold a job; and strength when things go off course.
Shipler says a major issue like poverty should be attacked all at once, not piecemeal. Figuring it out will take lots of sacrifice, political will and a willingness to redistribute money. He encourages poor people to vote, saying it would make a huge difference in who is elected and by what margins, but he knows many at this income level are disinterested in and disillusioned by politics.
This book was written in 2004, so it would be interesting to know how much of the policy discussed within it has changed, and whether poverty in the U.S. has increased or decreased in succeeding years. It's obviously not a feel-good book, but it definitely makes you think about helping those in need.
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The Working Poor Invisible in America (Audible Audio Edition) David K Shipler Peter Ganim Audible Studios Books Reviews
Lives of chronic pain, compromise and dreams unfulfilled are what come to life in The Working Poor Invisible in America. I am a black man who grew up in what was in fact a ghetto alas not quite. One very old white woman stayed in her home on our block well into my adulthood and most of us watched out for her. She eventually died of natural causes.
I grew up thinking we were poor because; we did not have torrents of money flowing from every orifice. We could not buy anything on impulse or whim. My family was better off than most because; we owned our home outright. We ALMOST always had a car even if at times it was a raggity hoopdy piece of car. Our lights, phone and water were never turned off due to lack of payment. I have autism and I have a disabled sibling and we got the very best medical care money could buy at the time. I routinely saw doctors who were trying to figure out my autism, cerebral palsy and other disabilities.
When we needed to be hospitalized we were in the best semi private rooms when they were available this was the 1960's you know. We took regular vacations to awesome places each summer. We were always warm, properly clothed and well cared for. There was much love in my home growing up. We always had more than enough to eat. We each had a small allowance of money each week so we could buy candy, soda and the other things of childhood. Christmas was always full of toys and new clothes. Thanksgivings and Easter in my childhood home were always a grand old times to stuff ourselves and share with family friends extended family. We always had enough food and good cheer to share it with friends I brought home from institutions where I volunteered. During my childhood my family was never able to afford travel by plane, expensive cars or a shower of hugely expensive gifts which is how I felt rich people live.
My grandfather who raised me was the one haunting voice in my life on the subject of poverty. Since he lived through the depression he was my first and only poverty expert growing up. My grandfather constantly told me we were clueless about real poverty. My grandfather used to tell me that poverty was looking into the refrigerator and seeing only the bare light bulb and maybe some water in a bottle. My grandfather used to get mad when we would look in the refrigerator brimming with delicious leftovers and cry out there is nothing to eat in the house. My grandfather would retort nothing to eat means a house where their is nothing. My grandfather knew that what we meant was their was no quick easy heat and eat junk food available. My grandfather would look at us in amazement then break down and fix us leftovers and he'd make them taste fantastic.
So for all these years, what I thought was my life of poverty wasn't poverty at all according to my father. For most of my 54 years I never knew what my grandfather meant when he said we weren't really "Poor" until I read, The Working Poor Invisible in America by David K. Shipler. As I read The Working Poor Invisible in America it was as if I heard its words spoken in my grandfathers voice. For the first time in my life on reading The Working Poor Invisible in America I had a much better understanding of the true face of poverty. No book can ever do justice to the true suffering poverty brings but The Working Poor Invisible in America is a great place to start your journey toward understanding. The Working Poor Invisible in America is not a book of answer it is a book of questions born of insight. I was once on Section 8 housing and disability and even still I never knew true poverty. My lights, phone, water were always on paid and kept up to date. I managed my tiny monthly check so well, I eventually qualified for a low interest national department store credit card. I did not have even a basic understanding of poverty until I read The Working Poor Invisible in America.
"The Working Poor" by David Shipler is not an easy read. Densely written, it covers the lives of many poor people living in the U.S., struggling to subsist. The book's title is apt, because in many cases people in poverty truly do work. They work hard in their menial jobs where they often aren't promoted; they work hard to escape brutal pasts; in short, lots of them work hard to keep their lives together.
Shipler conveys in a stark way how common social issues can lead to poverty and how various problems within poor families affect each other negatively, like dominoes falling down. A woman who is sexually abused as a child may have a habit of picking bad men later in life or getting pregnant as a teenager, which leads to monetary problems in adulthood. Hardened men with rough, criminal pasts may have difficulty getting hired for jobs and experience low self-esteem. A lady who suffers through a lifetime of poverty forgoes dental work, leading to a mouth with no teeth, hindering her chances of getting promoted at work. Then there are the babies and kids who are severely malnourished because food is a more flexible expense -- these hardships just scratch the surface of Shipler's book.
Shipler reveals that poverty is prevalent across ethnicities. Some of these people have made foolish decisions in life that have resulted in bad outcomes. Sometimes, however, social policies are out of whack or companies fleece the poor, leading to further degradation. Shipler shows how those who don't have money problems can be condescending, unforgiving and cruel, though he also writes about people who extend helping hands. Luckily, the author doesn't lionize the poor or overly criticize the powers that be. He simply tells one dismal story after another, presenting hidden lives in a matter-of-fact way that resonates.
I found Chapter 9, "Dreams," to be interesting. It talks about bright-eyed poor kids in less than ideal schools. One of the teachers, labeled in the book as "Mrs. C," relates how the students under her tutelage were constantly late, not motivated and rowdy in class due to never getting attention at home. They received poor grades because of these issues, possibly depriving themselves of decent futures in already difficult circumstances.
Parents who fail to help their children with homework or who don't convey the importance of education hinder the prospects of their offspring, according to Shipler. Oftentimes these parents had miserable experiences when attending school themselves. Teachers interviewed in the book discuss how they are rudely treated by certain parents and students alike -- one said she feared for her life. Conversely, many parents fail to communicate with teachers at all, skipping parent-teacher conferences no matter how poorly their son or daughter may be doing academically or behaviorally.
In students' defense, many poor ones are malnourished and must deal with issues at home that would make learning at school very hard.
Shipler found some teachers in low-income schools who were subpar, simply not good at relating information to students. Others covered material too fast, leaving many students in the class befuddled and blank.
The last few chapters have stories of help, hope and success. The formula for achievement is given, though the author admits it's often elusive a close family with two wage earners; self-confidence and the ability to find and hold a job; and strength when things go off course.
Shipler says a major issue like poverty should be attacked all at once, not piecemeal. Figuring it out will take lots of sacrifice, political will and a willingness to redistribute money. He encourages poor people to vote, saying it would make a huge difference in who is elected and by what margins, but he knows many at this income level are disinterested in and disillusioned by politics.
This book was written in 2004, so it would be interesting to know how much of the policy discussed within it has changed, and whether poverty in the U.S. has increased or decreased in succeeding years. It's obviously not a feel-good book, but it definitely makes you think about helping those in need.
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