According to Shipler, the working poor need remedies to improve their circumstances. Throughout his novel, Shipler addressed potential solutions that seemed to adjust the lives of the working poor. To help combat low self-esteem and competence more programs should be created by the state or local communities that could be created to assist the working poor in getting their GEDs, personal hygiene if necessary, learning skills that are necessary for job training, balancing daily personal finances, and learning how to eat healthier on a limited income. The more confidence an individual has the more likely they will be outgoing or assertive and will be more willing to apply for jobs. Applying jobs is intimidating for a college graduate who has …show more content…
Compared to other developed nations in America there is a large gap between the working poor and the wealthy and it has increased in the last 40 years (Mankiw, 2014). By gauging a better understanding, Shipler makes the reader want to fight for the working poor with the way he describes their struggles in detail. By interviewing workers from around the country with different circumstances, demographics, professions, and located in different regions Shipler was able to gain a realistic data of the working poor population. After interviewing individuals he was able to gain an insight into the struggles of those that are invisible like having to choose between the luxuries of the middle class like having a cable or a cell phone or paying their bills, the meager wages and hard hours single mothers like Caroline have to struggle through to provide for their family, and feeling like they don’t matter to their employers. Along with detailing the struggles of the working poor Shipler mentions possible solutions along the way that society could assist with like increasing minimum wage so the working poor could have the opportunity to survive, possible programs that would focus the children of the working poor so they could have a better future in high school and beyond, and if employers were able to reduce some of the requirements more opportunities could be provided to the working poor. With the creation of state and local communities that provide outreach like teaching job etiquette, proper hygiene, education, and transportation more individuals would be able to gain better self-esteem and have reliable transport to work. In order, to have a fighting chance the invisible American’s need society to fight for them, so those that make up the working poor know that they
Ehrenreich’s use of statistical information also proves to her audience that she in fact has done her research on this topic. She admits that poverty is a social topic that she frequently talks about. She researched that in 1998 the National Coalition for the Homeless reported that nationwide on average it would take about a wage of $8.89 to afford a one bedroom apartment and that the odds of common welfare recipients landing a job that pays such a “living wage” were about 97 to 1. Ehrenreich experiences this statistic in first person when she set out job hunting in Key West, Florida when she applied to 20 different jobs, ranging from wait tables to housekeeping, and of those applications, zero were responded to.
The juxtaposed contrasts that she often uses are seen explicitly in anecdotes or implicitly in conscious thoughts. Such contrasts first appear in the first paragraph. Even before Ehrenreich makes any substantial effort to join the poor working class, she is hit with this sudden unease of being recognized. At that time, it is clear that she has not relinquished her middle class status since she feels ashamed of being identified as a poor worker. In the world that the author originally belongs to, name and reputation are considered important to one’s standing in society yet in the working class realm, as Ehrenreich later finds out, one is often “unnoticed” and names are “unuttered.” Not only are names forgotten but one’s ability and education are also ignored when looking for jobs. Oblivious to the “rule” for hiring for unskilled jobs, Ehrenreich initially worries about her over-qualification but only to be shocked when she realizes the employers are not even interested. Whereas jobs for the middle class often demand higher education and past accomplishments, jobs for the low-wage workforce are simply depended simply on luck or as Ehrenreich claims “ being in the right place at the right time.” One can convey this as part of a corporate scheme to ensure the
In The Working Poor: Invisible in America, David K. Shipler tells the story of a handful of people he has interviewed and followed through their struggles with poverty over the course of six years. David Shipler is an accomplished writer and consultant on social issues. His knowledge, experience, and extensive field work is authoritative and trustworthy. Shipler describes a vicious cycle of low paying jobs, health issues, abuse, addiction, and other factors that all combine to create a mountain of adversity that is virtually impossible to overcome. The American dream and promise of prosperity through hard work fails to deliver to the 35 million people in America who make up the working poor. Since there is neither one problem nor one solution to poverty, Shipler connects all of the issues together to show how they escalate each other. Poor children are abused, drugs and gangs run rampant in the poor neighborhoods, low wage dead end jobs, immigrants are exploited, high interest loans and credit cards entice people in times of crisis and unhealthy diets and lack of health care cause a multitude of problems. The only way that we can begin to see positive change is through a community approach joining the poverty stricken individuals, community, businesses, and government to band together to make a commitment to improve all areas that need help.
Although the wage is being increased frequently, the cost of other necessities also increase at a faster rate that is not being accounted for. The author explains that this society is shaped around hiding poverty from the public, also referred to as “money taboo”. An example, Ehrenreich explains, is the lack of low-wage search help from the media. Many employees often don’t share wages from their jobs in fear of a sense of outcast. Thus, many well-paying jobs go under the radar. Minimum wage employers, such as Walmart, eat up the ignorance of the working class. Such companies resist increasing the wage by promoting flashy “benefits” for workers instead. Ehrenreich explains that in a world where the rich overshadow the poor, low-cost housing can easily be overbid by the rich. As seen in her time in Minnesota, Ehrenreich could not find low-cost housing affordable on her Walmart wage. Even the borderline affordable motels lacked safety and cleanliness. In the Evaluation, Ehrenreich sums up the social and economic problems that seem to be apparent throughout the book. She also effectively highlights the issues of the legitimate lower-class workers she encounters. Ehrenreich incorporates prior knowledge of her specialty into
In The Working Poor: Invisible in America, David K. Shipler describes about the lives of United States citizens who live within poverty. He highlights the U.S.’s disregard for its working poor, the nature of poverty, and the causes of poverty faced by low-wage earners. Shipler performs an amazing job with describing the factors that play their parts into the lives of U.S. citizens who live are poor and within poverty.
In 1998, Barbara Ehrenreich, a prominent and prolific journalist in Florida, posed an interesting question to her editor: “How does anyone live on the wages available to the unskilled” (Ehrenreich, 2001, p. 1). In this idea, Ehrenreich set out on a journey to discover just how “the other half” lived on the low wages that they receive. During her project, Ehrenreich set out playing the role of a divorcee hoping to re enter the workforce by taking on the task of finding an unskilled, low paying job in hopes to see just how the poorer class made it with such low pay. Throughout the book, Ehrenreich takes jobs that pay typically between 5to 7 dollars per hour. It is interesting to look into how the attitude of Ehrenreich changes in respect to the
Throughout the years, the ability to survive in the American economy without a college education has been diminishing. The employment opportunities now available to many Americans without college degrees are called “unskilled” jobs. These forms of employment are often unstable and offer low pay without much of a change for advancement within the company . Low income families are often constrained by many hurdles that do not allow them to raise themselves from below the poverty line . Many misconceptions come to light when talking about those American families below the poverty line, of those misconceptions are highlighted by statements such as that they do not work, work enough, or that they take advantage of public assistance that they do not need. In Nickel and Dimed on (Not) Getting by In America, Ehrenreich lives as a low wage worker and reveals the truth about the working poor.
As stated by Franklin D. Roosevelt, “the test of our progression is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.” Many people may agree with this statement considering that the United States is such a wealthy country and in 2012, 46.5 million people were living in poverty in the United States and 15% of all Americans and 21.8% of children under age eighteen were in poverty.The honest truth is that many people do not know the conditions this group of people must live in on a daily basis because of the small number of people who realize the struggle there is not a great amount of service. In the article Too stressed for Success, the author Kevin Clarke asks the question “What is the cost of being poor in America?” and follows the question by explaining the great deals of problems the community of poverty goes through daily by saying, “Researchers have long known that because of a broad reduction in retail and other consumer choices experienced by America's poor, it is often simply more expensive to be poor in the United States.
...erty. Shipler only focuses on the lifelong effect of those who did not escape the hands of poverty. He only appears to concentrate on the negatives of childhood traumas and provides readers with little hope that the children who fall victim to these situations will be able to overcome and amount to anything in life. Shipler points out some major players of poverty in this chapter, but ultimately fails to look at all views of childhood traumas or point the reader in which direction to go in order to attain a solution.
In David Shiplers’ The Working Poor, he explores the life of the forgotten people of America. He listened to the voices of those who are a victim of either circumstance, or their own created misfortune. The books shows the stories behind the working poor’s tired eyes, and wrinkled faces. It brings a whole new light to the underbelly of America. It takes off the blindfold of ignorance that society wears. In David Shiplers’ The Working Poor he shows the barriers that hindered the working poor from escaping the maze of poverty.
The Working Poor: Invisible in America by David K. Shipler makes its readers aware of the seriousness of American poverty and the condition of the lower class in American society by providing details and insight from their of point of view. Looking at issues of irresponsibility, greed, and fear of success the Working Poor gives an accurate presentation of the less wealthy in America. Mainly leaving its readers depressed and conscious to others hardship’s in life with a sense of appreciation that things are not worse in their own.
Poverty and social exclusion have continued to pose major challenges to governments all over the world. Poverty is a global phenomenon which affects all states at different levels and is not limited to the developing countries only. Both poverty and social exclusion are conditions relating to the denial of or absence of opportunities and resources, this affects participation in society on equal terms with others. The affected individuals are often in situations where ordinary basic needs for survival are denied or cannot be acquired. (Vienna declaration 1993)
Income inequality continues to increase in today’s world, especially in the United States. Income inequality means the unequal distribution between individuals’ assets, wealth, or income. In the Twilight of the Elites, Christopher Hayes, a liberal journalist, states the inequality gap between the rich and the poor are increasing widening, and there need to have things done - tax the rich, provide better education - in order to shortening the inequality gap. America is a meritocratic country, which means that everybody has equal opportunity to be successful regardless of their class privileges or wealth. However, equality of opportunity does not equal equality of outcomes. People are having more opportunities to find a better job, but their incomes are a lot less compared to the top ten percent rich people. In this way, the poor people will never climb up the ladder to high status and become millionaires. Therefore, the government needs to increase all the tax rates on rich people in order to reduce income inequality.
“America the land of opportunities is currently going through one of the worst poverty rates in over 50 years” said Michael Karibian researcher and journalist on poverty. Many people are in poverty and they have no one to blame but themselves. People remain in poverty for the reason that they do not have the desire to change and be successful and take charge of their own life; anyone can avoid poverty although the problem is people’s attitudes towards change. It can be easy to simply give up and blame others for their misfortune but in reality those people only have themselves to blame for their own misfortune in life. Getting out of poverty is difficult but it is not impossible for those who are willing to take control of their lives and no longer be a victim of thee own mistakes. America has opportunities for everyone who desires to avoid poverty by making smart choices, getting a good education and neglecting bad influences.
Homelessness and Poverty and Their Impact on Child Development In Orlando, poverty and homelessness are problems that are often ignored by most individuals, or so it would seem. While there are many programs available to those who need them, many who need help are unaware that these programs exist and they fail to seek the help that is available. Many people who have not experienced homelessness or poverty may believe that these people brought these situations upon themselves, but that accusation is merely a myth. In Orlando, thirty-seven percent of the homeless are single men, while women, children and families make up an astounding sixty-three percent of the homeless population.