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by David K. Shipler
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this book
Read
the New York Times review
Other Books by David Shipler
Reviewed
by Janet Reilly:
Brian Cahill, Executive
Director of Catholic Charities and the former head of the San Francisco
Department of Social Services, recommended I read The Working
Poor. Brian called it the best resource for information on
the millions of working Americans who are one paycheck away from
not being able to pay for food or rent.
This powerful book contains individual stories
about men and women across America who are employed and working hard
but who are trapped in a daily struggle for survival. It contains
heartbreaking accounts of the challenges faced by the working poor "Every
problem magnifies the impact of the others…A run down apartment
can exacerbate a child's asthma, which leads to a call for an ambulance,
which generates a medical bill that cannot be paid, which ruins a
credit record, which hikes the interest rate on an auto loan, which
forces the purchase of an unreliable car, which jeopardizes a mother's
punctuality at work, which limits her promotions…"
The book highlights one of my core concerns the
lack of affordable health care for working families. The book describes
in detail how families face the constant risk of financial ruin because
they can't afford the health care they need.
There is a detailed discussion of how a series
of small factors add up to a nearly insurmountable barrier to economic
security.
I saw, and worked to address, this phenomenon
by helping to create the Mervyns Community Closet. Our program helped
women transition from welfare to work by simply providing work-appropriate
clothing. It was a powerful insight to see how removing one simple
barrier could help open up so much opportunity. I'll never forget
the look on the faces of these extraordinary women when they put on
a suit for the first time. It didn't guarantee them a job but it did
eliminate one of the obstacles of poverty affording clothing that
will get you past step one in a job interview.
Shipler underscores two of my key platforms:
the cost of health insurance and the critical role education plays
in breaking these cycles. But he also talks about the need for a holistic
look at poverty in every aspect of public policy. Shipler argues: "If
problems are interlocking, then so must solutions be. A job alone
is not enough. Medical insurance alone is not enough. Reliable transportation,
careful family budgeting, effective parenting, effective schooling
are not enough when each is achieved in isolation from the rest…Only
where the full array of factors is attacked can American fulfill it's
promise."
Shipler says, "The first step is to
see the problems." This book does a tremendous job of
putting a human face on the statistics and spurring all of us see "the
invisible" friends, neighbors and colleagues who are trapped
at the edge of poverty. I highly recommend this book.
I also wanted to share a link to the excellent
series the New York Times has produced on class struggles
in America: Class
Matters. In particular, I was touched by the story of Angele
Whitiker, a registered nurse who struggled for 12 long years to
slowly climb out of poverty and keep her five children out of the
projects. The entire series is definitely worth reading.
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