An arresting appraisal of America's working poor. Drawing on
anecdotal evidence as well as statistical data, Schwarz (Political
Science/Univ. of Arizona) and his colleague (mayor of Tucson from
1987-91) limn the hard lives of the industrious individuals whose
paychecks are too low to provide them or their families with basic
necessities - adequate housing, food, clothing, medical care,
transport, etc. During 1989, they calculate, 56 million Americans
resided in households that could not make ends meet despite one or
more breadwinners with full-time jobs. By the numbers, the authors
estimate, an income at least 155% of the federal government's
official poverty line is necessary for households to reach the
threshold of self-sufficiency. To bring the needy employed up to
these subsistence levels, they propose that Washington increase the
minimum wage to $4.85 per hour and expand earned-income tax credits
on a sliding scale. In the course of investigating the
hand-to-mouth existence of the working poor, Schwarz and Volgy made
some discoveries that go against the grain of conventional wisdom -
e.g., that capitalism's low-profile casualties are neither
uneducated nor unskilled: In fact, two thirds have high-school
diplomas, and approximately one million hold college degrees. While
white males account for the single largest segment, moreover, the
ranks of the working poor encompass all age, ethnic, and racial
groups in the US. Nor, the authors determined, has either the
putative decline in domestic manufacturing or decelerating gains in
industrial productivity contributed measurably to the
impoverishment of these wage-earners; and the writers argue that
the public sector's job-creation programs, however successful,
cannot solve what is a problem involving shortfalls in income.
Accordingly, Schwarz and Volgy conclude, an affluent society owes
its working poor an affordable helping hand. A heartfelt and
persuasively documented reminder that all isn't well at home.
(Kirkus Reviews)
Does the American Dream still exist when nearly 30 million
Americans live in families in which workers find a paycheck and
poverty in the same envelope? Just as Michael Harrington's The
Other America shocked the nation with its disclosure of poverty in
the 1960s, John E. Schwarz and Thomas J. Volgy's The Forgotten
Americans exposes the breadth of poverty that exists today among
responsible, hardworking Americans. At the end of the prosperous
1980s, the number of Americans living in working-poor families
equaled the combined populations of the nation's 25 largest cities.
Contrary to conventional wisdom, this situation is not largely
confined to minorities, women, the undereducated or young adults.
It is commonplace for workers from nearly all segments of society
to be employed in low-paying jobs even during good economic times.
The Forgotten Americans reveals the betrayal of the hopes and
expectations of these industrious people through broad-based
factual evidence and the real-life stories of individual families.
Their hardship has been ignored at enormous cost to them and the
country. Numerous problems at the forefront of national debate
welfare dependency, crime, and the inadequate performance of many
American school children are closely connected to the existence of
working poverty on a large scale. Unless corrective action is
taken, the country risks the creation of a deeply fractured society
arising from the despair of millions of employed people who have
discovered that practicing the work ethic yields little reward. The
problem is staggering and often misunderstood by politicians, the
media, and the public. Once Schwarz and Volgy have outlined the
implications of this social and economic tragedy, they propose
effective solutions that require simple changes to existing
policies solutions that are politically feasible and can be
accomplished without new taxes."
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
