Working poor

Working Poor Book Summary Three Main Points The Working Poor was written by David K. Shipler. The book gives readers a perspective of what life is like after poverty strikes. Each chapter focuses on either the contributing factors, the causes, or the effects of poverty. In the introduction of the book, Shipler paints the disturbing picture of what it’s like to live in poverty. The line on page 4, “an inconvenience to an affluent family- minor car trouble, brief illness, disruptive child care- is a crisis for them” helped illustrate this. This book provided evidence to back this up and I have also witnessed the unfortunate truth behind this statement. In early October, my tires got slashed, along with 40 other people in my neighborhood. As a member of the middle class, this was just a nuisance for me. My insurance company towed my car the next morning and I had new tires by the end of the day. This wasn’t the case for every victim of the vandalization, however. I noticed a few days after the incident that one of my…

Analysis on “The Working Poor” Although, I disagree with critic Katherine Newman of “The Wages of Fear” and Kathleen Courrier of “Ain’t it Hard?” who both argue that the conclusions on poverty in “The Working Poor” by David K. Shipler is imitative to other experts as well as derelict on certain solutions. I also agree with both the critics who find Shipler’s perspective of living in poverty insightful and pragmatic on the stigma that follows the lower working-class. Therefore, the incisive…

In David Shiplers The Working Poor: Invisible in America he starts off by stating how often the American lower class citizens are ripped off and treated poorly in modern American business, due in part to their ignorance of labor laws or their spending habits. Chapter two talks mostly in part about the hardest working jobs end up giving the least back to the worker. The most dangerous jobs have the lowest pay and the least benefits, especially when talking about the workers family there is…

Critique: The Working Poor The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. This phrase is so true because there is a lot of people living in poverty despite working day and night. David K. Shipler an American Author who has won the Pulitzer Prize set out to find out about the lives of the “Invisible America”. The Working Poor or the Invisible America are a group of society that was clearly latent in everyone’s eyes, but not in David Shipler sight. In 1997 the United States economy was climbing and…

available to anyone willing to try hard enough, the term “working poor” may seem to have a bright side. These individuals may struggle financially, but they do have jobs; which is the first and most essential step toward lifting oneself out of poverty. According to the Huffington Post, in the “2012 Census data, more than seven percent of American workers fell below the federal poverty line, making less than $11,170 for a single person and $15,130 for a couple.” In studies done by the Economics…

time. In The Working Poor written by David Shipler, he discusses the barriers that low-income families face but gives reasoning to why our society can promote hope and change. Even though there is a stereotypical opinion of how low-income families don’t want to pursue change, there is a majority who want to get out of the poverty system. For that majority, they are not receiving the same benefits or opportunities that middle class receives. It is not that they don’t have the capacity to learn…

The Working Poor One constant problem that we see in America is poverty. No matter the measures that have been taken to eliminate it, nothing has been able to solve the problem. It is such a difficult problem to tackle, although a common stereotype in the United States is that people who are poor are stupid or uneducated. It has been proven that it is extremely hard to make a living in this country on minimum wage budget. People can spend their whole lives living in poverty, never being able…

The Working Poor and the American Dream: Hope lost Because of Class Throughout American history, people have fought for and moved to the United States to live a life of freedom, where they can pursue happiness and achieve their highest goals. The American Dream is viewed by many as accomplishing their desired life, making it unique to everyone with the same outcome: accomplishing their goals. Hope in the American Dream can be lost due to lack of wealth and class, that affect the way people work…

The novel, The Working Poor: Invisible in America, dives deep to what it’s like to live above, below and everything between the poverty line. You may of noticed that we have government benefits to help out people in need, but not everyone is in favor of that. The wealthy population of America constantly tries to overshadow people who live at the poverty level. While people at poverty level are struggling to get by, the Wealthy population tries to pay off the government so they no longer have to…

place. For many, the only way to visualize poverty is through films, such as Lion and Slumdog Millionaire. These in particular focus on the severe predicaments in India regarding wealth and the lack thereof. These films shine light on the major issues which can be sensitive material to some, but it is necessary for people to see and understand them. Poverty throughout India is portrayed similarly in the films, Slumdog Millionaire and Lion by depicting the lives of poor families, the children’s…