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From:David K. Shipler , Knopf ,
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User Rating: Amazon Sales Rank:#152756 |
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2 of 2 customers found the following review helpful:
 well researched, 2007-08-06
I found Working Poor to be well-researched, and I prefer it's tone to Nickel and Dimed. Shipler was thorough and balanced in his view of the poor in America. In the various stories, Shipler takes us into the psyche of the "working poor", showing the different circumstances that allowed these individuals to remain, or get into poverty.
Phenomenal, 2007-05-14
If you've ever taken pause to consider what makes the world go round as it relates to commercial or economic pursuits, you owe it to yourself to read this book.
11 of 11 customers found the following review helpful:
 It's a great start, but...., 2007-03-08
Let me start by saying what I liked and appreciated about this book before I go on to say what I didn't. First of all, it's great that most of the focus has been placed on individual families and circumstances. He's not just rattling off statistics; he's actually taking you to the living rooms and workplaces of real human beings and for the most part letting them tell their own story. It is also clear that Shipler does not have a political agenda; he acknowledges the failings of both the left and right to address this issue on pretty equal terms. The author is not blaming the individuals in question entirely for their situations, nor is he completely blaming society or "the system;" rather, he shows in an extrodinarily clear and sober manner the variety of circumstances which cause poverty and which continually leave those afflicted in its grasp.
The main problem that I have with this book is that I feel it left out a lot of people and a lot of problems that could have easily been addressed. For one, most of the people in the book are urban minorities, and that seems to be where most of the focus lies. There's not a lot of emphasis on the rural poor (with the notable exception of migrant farm workers) among whom circumstances are quite different and in many ways even harder than those of the urban poor. In addition, Shipler is constantly noting the lack of education among poor people but doesn't ever mention the fact that ever-rising and insane tuition costs prevent many perfectly capable *middle-class* people of getting to college in the first place, thus rendering them just as poor as the people who started out that way. (Financial aid actually favors the very poor, and the middle class are often left in the limbo of "too much income to qualify, not enough money to pay out of pocket" and the only way to go is through financially crippling student loans.)
I also wanted to say something about the Earned Income Credit, because it is something that Shipler thoroughly sings the praises of throughout the book. First of all, it's not that easy to get it. As a personal example, from 1999-2005, even though I made hardly any money and should have qualified, I did not because I was under 25 (a stipulation that Shipler neglects to mention.) This year, I am 25, but I still did not qualify because I had gotten married. (Which is another big issue Shipler neglects to mention: the marriage penalty.) If you are married you have to make an absurdly low amount of money to qualify, so if you both work full time like good Americans without taking any other government money (which you wouldn't qualify for anyway unless you have children), even if you both make minimun wage and are barely scraping by, you still wouldn't qualify. So it's really not the panacea that he makes it out to be.
There are a lot of other relevant issues that Shipler never brings up. For example, why does someone who makes $15,000 per year have to pay the same percentage of their income to Social Security as someone who makes $75,000 per year? What about all those people on Social Security, anyway? Why are people without health insurance forced to pay for someone else's Medicare? Why doesn't a high school diploma mean anything anymore? There are a billion questions that, as a poor person, I wanted answers to, which is the very reason I bought this book. But there is so much emphasis in here about one very specific type of poor person (urban minority female with way too many children) who also happens to be the most stereotypical kind of poor person, without giving everyone else who is struggling to survive a very equal voice. But like I said at the beginning, this book is a good starting point. If you are poor, or have ever been poor, you may not get as much out of it as a wealthier person. If you have a lot of money or are otherwise quite comfortable financially, please read this book. It may not give you the entire picture of poverty in America, but it will put a real human face on the problem.
6 of 6 customers found the following review helpful:
YOU HAVE TO READ THIS!, 2007-01-28
This should be required reading for everyone in this country. This book does what "Nickle and Dimed" could only dream of doing. This is not some man just trying on poverty to see how it feels. Shipler gets down to the bare bones of poverty and details the web of causes and effects. Speaking as someone that's been to hell and back when it comes to poverty this book was spot on in detailing the vast array of circumstances that all rely on and influence each other. He does well to point out that poverty is a mix of bad circumstances and bad choices and that it's all a painful cycle. He also does a great job at illustrating the way the working poor live not only paycheck to paycheck, but crisis to crisis and disconnect notice to disconnect notice.
Not only does Shipler highlight all the gritty details of the life of the working poor he outlines very reasonable and more importantly POSSIBLE solutions to combat poverty. His solutions are more common sense and can be done if everyone gets on board to recognize the problem and agree to work on solving it.
We will never get rid of poverty, some people will always make the negative choices that keep them poor. But there is no excuse for such a wealthy country to build it's empire on the backs of the poor and then refuse to let them in the door.
Read this book, then pass it on. You will learn more than you ever thought you could about the people that you never thought to notice.
8 of 8 customers found the following review helpful:
Horatio Alger Is Dead, 2007-01-21
Unless, perhaps, you're in entertainment or technology. By sticking with his subjects, earning their respect and engaging in painstaking research, David Shipler has connected the dots in "The Working Poor" to give us a comprehensive, emotionally powerful synopsis of the multiple causes of poverty in America. Using the life narratives of diverse subjects (all but one of whom I found entirely sympathetic), Shipler rarely points fingers but instead explains how a combination of his subjects' family histories and character traits, relative lack of formal education, living conditions, incessant agonizing over work-parenting balance, and minimal to nonexistent cash flow collide with varying policies within the public and private sectors along with the employers, coworkers and bureaucrats with whom they deal.
Reading Shipler's research, it is clear there is no "one size fits all" solution to the condition of the working poor. For that reason, the author's concise summary of key policy debates can be excused. This book is meant to elicit thought first, then understanding, then action.
Based on my own interactions with the working poor and after having read this moving work, I offer the following observations:
1) More free classes on parenting skills are needed to help create a better environment for at-risk infants and young people.
2) Government must step up its commitment to clean, safe, affordable housing in new and innovative ways. Too much is spent on defense and not enough on domestic programs. Affordable housing needs additional support from both the legislative and executive branches at the Federal and State levels. Homeownership education programs for first-time homebuyers appear in good supply, but the stock of accessible housing needs work.
3) Free financial literacy instruction in the vernacular of the street or in an immigrant's native tongue must be widely offered. Stock market board games sponsored by local companies in high schools sound nice but don't address the proper issues - needs versus wants, saving versus spending, developing a budget, etc.
4) Reading is a core foundation. "Reading aloud" and reading instruction at the preschool level is essential. It helps develop a core competency, and it (hopefully) demonstrates that someone cares.
5) Customized bundles of social services delivered by a local coalition of volunteers, nonprofits and for-profits should increasingly be built into new housing supply. Bring parenting, financial literacy, housing maintenance, etc., skills to at-risk individuals and families where they live. Gather a (somewhat) captive audience in familiar, non-threatening surroundings. The "community stability" aspect of affordable housing is starting to catch on, and this trend must be encouraged.
6) Reform school funding formulas to make the calibre of instruction more equitable across districts.
7) Place the snowballing cry for universal access to college education in the proper perspective. Where should finite government resources go - to support vulnerable children getting started in life or to those more ready to enter the halls of ivy? Fund the sons and daughters of the working poor first, and let them find their way. They may find their way through JobsCorps, an apprenticeship or some other route; perhaps college. Let's not put the cart before the horse.
Just recently, a middle-aged woman among the working poor whom I know, doing well in her job, was presented by her employer with the opportunity to open a 401K as her year-end bonus. The employer assumed this would be a good way to help her save. Her response? She needed money for new tires for her old car, and she needed it now. The employer ended up providing this woman with a scaled-back bonus and a starter 401K. Several weeks later, my friend left her car keys in the ignition as she ran into a convenience store. When she returned, she found the car gone. Reporting the incident to the police, she was cited for a section of the municipal code that states motorists may not leave keys in the ignition, and she was promptly fined $100. She wanted to fight this misdemeanor but said she couldn't afford a lawyer. A friend gave her the $100 to pay her fine. She has more recently declared bankruptcy. Her only vice is smoking.
Shipler is right on the money. We are facing a class epidemic in America. The first line of defense in this fight may not be government. It may simply be a growing number of fellow Americans who bother to take the extra five or ten minutes necessary to read to a child, caution a parent on his or her attitudes, run down the street and buy basic groceries, or make a forgivable loan. Micro, then macro. Macro may take too long.
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