Focus Lacking, But Parts Of the Book Are Compelling

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	• The Working Poor: Invisible in America David K. Shipler Vintage, 2005 - 352 pages average customer review:based on 72 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Must reading for managers of minimum wage people

The author presents an even handed (neither bleeding heart liberal nor heartless conservative) view of the issues that confront and trap people in the minimum wage and low hourly rate jobs. He illuminates the complex relationship between low wages, health, life choices, family structure, and work habits that thwart the "American Dream" for these people. I came to understand why "single shot" private and public sector initiatives fail to make a material dent on the problem of "near poverty" level workers.

Excellent book!!! A must for every american.

Great work by Mr Shipler.I couldnt put this book down once i started. I read this book as a follow up to Barbara Ehrenreich's Nicel and Dimed, and for me, these two books are a great one-two punch that makes you think.Mr Shipler's book is a must for people who think that their lifes are miserable but have all the commodities in their house and workplace.I love the way he tells the stories behind the people who struggle against all kinds of odds to make a living.I especially enjoyed the chapter that talks about the inmigrants in North Carolina since in my church we deal with a lot of them and Mr Shipler was right on the money in all his observations and stories.I also enjoyed the chapter that deals with the schools and how teachers are trying their best to teach and relate to their students while a lot of them have a lot of problems at home that would not allowed them to concentrate in schools.Altough i am not a political person a lot of Mr Shiplers conclusions as to what the goverment has to do to help seem reasonable to me and all of us have to do our work and our part to erradicate poverty.Magnificent work!!

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Focus Lacking, But Parts Of the Book Are Compelling

I enjoyed the first 75 pages of this book much more than the last 250. In the first section, Shipler presents some real insights, including (1) a helpful look at how fragile the balance of daily life can be for many people, (2) a useful look at how many people end up with spending/saving problems, and (3) a helpful look at how people can end up stuck in bad jobs. (Coincidentally, I thought Shipler's people-profiles in this section were the most interesting of the entire book.)

The last 250 pages (or so) is a chapter-by-chapter parade of horribles -- child abuse, migrant worker living conditions, malnutrition, substance addictions, etc -- showing how awful life can be. It was not especially insightful to me, and I did not find many surprises. The whole book could use more focus, to narrow in on what I thought was its central thesis: How do honest, hard-working, reasonably-bright people end up stuck in the lower end of the economy? Also, I did not find the "policy prescription" chapter at the end to be especially insightful.

I would have enjoyed a shorter book, with a more disciplined focus, on this topic. (I will say, though, that I was not put off by any obvious political agenda in the book.)

One final note: Like "Nickel and Dimed," Shipler's book does have a "Diane Fosse Lives Among The Gorillas In Their World and Wins their Trust" feel to it. But I think that is almost unavoidable for this genre. I will forgive that, although it annoying at times.

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Who to blame?

The major strength of this book is that it goes right to the heart of the debate on social welfare policy. Who is to blame? Is it the person or is it their circumstances? Normally hysterics on both extremes of the political spectrum try to place all the blame either on society or on the person. This book makes a run at splitting the difference. Frankly, I found this book better informed than the famous Nickel and Dimed. The truth is that poverty is a tough problem to solve, and many of the best minds on the left and the right have failed us.

The Dark Side of Democracy

I just read this book for the third time in the last two years. Every time I come away even more moved then before by the vivid, haunting portrait Shipler paints of truly remarkable people working up against daunting odds to make remarkable things happen under among the worst of circumstances. Forget Nickel and Dimmed and all of the other pop culture books detailing the plight of America's working poor published in recent years. This is the real thing. Shipler tells stories in harrowing and heroic detail of people who can't seem to get a break let alone a piece of the so-called American dream, no matter how hard they try time and again. The picture that emerges of employers and business (i.e. banks, credit card providers, furniture rental companies and others) as well as government is unconscienable. The public and private sectors are portrayed here as systematically exploiting, almost taunting the determination of the people profiled at every turn. As much as this book depresses and angers me at times, the stories of extraordinary courage, pride and perseverance are also inspiring, even empowering. You can't come away from reading this book without feeling changed and mobilzed. Shipler does more than detail the problems, misconceptions, barriers, etc. He offers an intelligent, persuasive guide for what all of us can be doing to bring about systemic changes that finally put an end to the myriad of economic injustices that far too many of our fellow citizens are forced to accept as "the cost of living." As Robert Reich observes: "The 'working poor' ought to be an oxymoron, because no one who works should be impoverished."

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, page 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

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