Review: The Working Poor

I read David Shipler's The Working Poor for a book discussion group I helped lead about economic oppression and its impact on quality of life.  The book tells the stories of numerous working-class people and their families, detailing the struggle to make ends meet and how easy it is to slide down a very slippery slope.  It also touches on how government assistance helps, but not enough, and how many companies take advantage of the poor, charging them huge fees they cannot afford.

I read Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed some years ago and it really rubbed me the wrong way.  I found Ehrenreich abrasive, confrontational and not in the least easy to sympathize with.  I much preferred Shipler's book.  He lets people tell their own stories.  He doesn't embellish, but provides context for very disturbing and startling statistics.

I have spent my whole life in the upper middle class.  I worry about my retirement, not my next meal.  I have never spent more money than I earn.  I have never been in debt.  I am aware of how lucky I am, and I know how much more difficult life could be.  And how quickly things can change.  So this book wasn't what I would call "eye-opening," exactly.  I say that because I am aware of how many problems there are in America.  But while this book did not open my eyes, I think it served as a book version of an eye exam.  The Working Poor clarified many points for me.  It increased my understanding of social economics and just how much circumstances can snowball, to disastrous effect.

There were some very powerful stories in this book.  Some were powerful in a positive light- the single mother who instilled a love of culture and education in her children even though she herself had to declare bankruptcy.  Some were horrifying and chilling.  For example, people at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder are less likely to show affection to their children because they never received affection from their own parents.  Also, most people at the bottom are single women raising children.  And the percentage of those women who had been sexually abused as children is terrifyingly high.

Facts presented in this book made me heartsick.  There are so many things that can go wrong in a life.  There are so many decisions that may seem inconsequential but then have enormous repercussions later on.  It is so easy to give up and almost useless to try to raise yourself again and again.  There were men and women I met in this book who had such amazing work ethic, and such a drive to make life better for their children.  And yet there were others who, over and over, made stupid decisions that hurt themselves and their families.  And I think that was something I really struggled with.  Compassion is important in situations like these, but sometimes, it seems almost like coddling.  It seemed like the most effective way of motivating some of the people was to give them a hefty dose of realism and a big kick in the rear.

I think what spoke to me most was the theme implied by its subtitle, Invisible in America.  Think about that for a moment- going through your whole life doing a dead end job with no benefits, no chance for advancement, and no sense of accomplishment.  The sort of job in which people see you and then immediately forget you, and you think that maybe if you don't show up tomorrow, no one will notice or care.  It would be devastating.  It is devastating to a good number of people.  And that struck a chord.  That so many of the people profiled in this book felt like they did not matter.  And felt so defensive, so unwilling to form real connections and friendships with others for fear of getting burned.

The Working Poor may not change my behavior.  (To be frank, I have no idea what I can really do to help solve such a huge socio-economic problem.)  But it made me realize how precarious financial confidence is.  And for that, I think more people should read it.  You just need a string of bad luck to careen off-track, and it is so, so hard to get back up again.  It's easy to sit on your high horse and say, "People who are on welfare just don't work as hard as I do," but that is blatantly false.  They do work hard.  But they just don't have the education or the specialized skills to advance in a career the way they want to, and because of that, there is just a deep and painful hopelessness in them.  It's so sad to read, and I think it's important we all understand how it happens.