Introduction In his book‚ The Working Poor‚ David Shipler introduces readers to the culture of those he calls “invisible” Americans. He describes these people as the struggling poor who work to provide a comfortable lifestyle to the same people that are unaware of their plight. In the chapter entitled‚ “Sins of the Fathers‚” readers meet Wendy Waxler. She is a single mother struggling to provide for her young daughter who has cerebral palsy. Commenting on her fighting against abuse and poverty
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The Working Poor: Invisible in America David K. Shipler David K. Shipler is the author of The Working Poor: Invisible in America‚ also winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his book Arabs and Jews: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land‚ and a Journalist/ Foreign correspondent for the New York Times. Shipler is a well known author who shows have had plenty of life experiences and education‚ while studying society and trying to understand the
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The Working Poor travels into the forgotten America. It is a book about people and places that most us have never thought about. We have our debates about these people‚ their lifestyles‚ how they raise their children and where they work but we don’t really know them and for the most part don’t care. How many of us notice "the man who washes cars but does not own one‚ the clerk who files cancelled checks at the bank but has $2.02 in her own account or the woman who copyedits medical textbooks but
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Lewis MWF 11-11:50 Poverty is Inescapable “They spend everything and save nothing” (Shipler 4) David Shipler states in The Working Poor when he refers to the working poor in America. Unfortunately‚ for some work just does not work due to conditions such as having to raise children and the inability to fully participate in school. Shipler specifically analyzes three mothers who exemplify those who will be poor for the rest of their lives due to the necessary expenses of their children and household
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The working poor are those people that work the hardest for their dollar‚ work the hardest to get their paychecks‚ work the hardest to survive. Most of the working poor live paycheck to paycheck and like the saying goes‚ “robbing from Peter to pay Paul.” There is a way out of poverty‚ and there is a way for these struggling individuals to escape the perils of their life in poverty. It is not an easy road out‚ but it is possible. It is important for those that are born into this lifestyle to know
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The Struggle of the Working Poor Revised Essay Sociology 113 Yvonne Barney October 19‚ 2012 The Struggle of the Working Poor Society often describes the impoverished with one word‚ lazy. Society has taught us that if a person wants to be financially successful‚ it is a simple process of education and hard work that will equate to a successful income. This is the American dream. If the impoverished simply would get a job instead of being lazy‚ they would not need to rely on programs like
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The Working Poor by David K. Shipler focuses on the hidden side of American life in poverty through people’s stories. The Working Poor by David K. Shipler focuses on the hidden side of American life in poverty through people’s stories. Shipler writes about the lives of people of the working poor who are stuck in poverty in the land of opportunities. The American myth is what drives people to become successful and go from rags to riches. Race‚ location and education all play key roles on how an individual’s
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fall under the line are poor and those above the line are not poor. David K. Shipler highlights the shortcomings of such a definition in The Working Poor: Invisible in America. As the title suggests‚ there is a needy population often overlooked by public assistance‚ job training programs‚ charity organizations‚ and the greater population as a whole. This refers to those who linger just above the somewhat arbitrary poverty line. Through the use of personal stories‚ Shipler illustrates the lives of
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best way for ex-cons to avoid prison again is to reintroduce them into the working world and find them jobs. However‚ most employers are hesitant to give them a chance. With the unemployment rate approaching its highest it makes keeping a job is challenging. When a person has been to prison‚ their chances of getting hired decrease drastically. Chapter five of David K. Shipler’s The Working Poor: Invisible in America‚ Shipler emphasizes attaining a job‚ maintaining a job‚ and living while employed to
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In the book “The Working Poor: Invisible in America” the author David K. Shipler discusses barriers and biases toward employability an example would be the appearance of Caroline in chapter 2. People are discriminated against because of their handicaps they couldn’t prevent and that keeps them from being hired or promoted even if they are hard workers. In the second paragraph the character that is talked about the most is Caroline‚ a woman who lost her teeth because of her economic state and inability
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