Working Poor The Work Poor Essay - 1277 Words

Working Poor The Working Poor: Invisible in America is a story that takes personal stories and accounts of people lives to describe the injustices that people face every day. Poverty is damaging to both the economy and the people who face it. Many times social policies are created to assist the people who are working but still struggle to get basic needs like food, utilities, gas, and medical. Poverty is a perpetuating cycle that is intended to keep the poor oppressed and discriminated against. Respectfully, this critique will address the social problems that are identified in the book, the major social welfare policy issues, the social values and beliefs that are critical and the implications for future social welfare policy and social work practice. Social Problems The Working Poor: Invisible in America gives an accurate depiction of the social problems and social policies that are designed to keep the poor, poorer. Shipler uses a variety of stories to depict social welfare programs like the minimum wage act, immigration, Social Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability (SSD), healthcare act, Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), drug addiction, sexual abuse, Individual Education Plans (IEP), and the gender pay gap along with many others. The overarching theme throughout the book was that the working poor never make enough money to cover their expenses and the wage never goes up enough over the span of their lifetime. One story depicted a story about a girlShow MoreRelatedWorking Poor : The Work Poor1051 Words   |  5 PagesElizabeth McCumber April 24, 2015 Working poor paper Throughout both in-class discussions, and David Shipler’s â€Å"The Working Poor: Invisible in America† we learned being poor in America is anything but easy. Even with all of our government assistance programs such as Medicaid and Welfare, many family generation after generation seem to fall below the poverty line and create a life of struggle and long way out for their families. When Shipler is explaining different families and their lac of selfRead MoreEhrenreich s Nickel And Dimed, By Barbara Ehrenreich1284 Words   |  6 Pagesthe working poor should be categorized as a â€Å"state of emergency,† and while that may first appear as extreme title, it would certainly promote action in our society. This â€Å"call to action† is one of the main motivations behind Ehrenreich’s writing of this novel. If viewing the working poor as a state of emergency promotes society to take action, then so be it. It is clear from Ehrenreich’s novel that th e life of the working poor is not a sustainable lifestyle. Whether it s continuing to work afterRead MoreDavid K. Shipler s Work1696 Words   |  7 Pages David K. Shipler went on a journey trying to reveal the truth about Americas working poor. It was a little difficult trying to find different ways of getting enough information about the life of the poor, and getting them to feel comfortable explaining the stressful life that they lived in America the great. There were many different aspects and situations about people that were struggling to make it in America. David K. Shipler used many different research methods on this project, and wentRead MoreGeorge Orwell s Down And Out Of Paris And London Essay1440 Words   |  6 Pagescontrast to modern society, the working poor nowadays have better condition than the situation that described in the book of Down and Out of Paris and London. During the Orwell’s period, he described the dehumanized working circumstances as a pl ongeurs. Although poverty in 20st century remains, the situations that the working poor face actually become much better compared with 1930’s Paris. That is, comparing to the old days, in contemporary society, the working poor get helps from government, andRead MoreHow Americans Are Not Getting What They Came For America?1015 Words   |  5 Pagesoptions for the poor have been taken away, and their ability to become successful has been stripped away by cooperations. This topic has been examined by articles such as Crumbling American Dreams, The Pernicious Economic Trap of Low Wages, and the book Nickel and Dimed. These cover the topics of how Americans are not getting what they came for in America. Because the American Dream in no longer attainable to everyone due to the low wages given, and the lack of choice given to the working poor, employersRead MorePhilips Improvement to Job Analysis and Design1531 Words   |  6 Pagesanalysis and design has attracted more attention of organizations, since poor job analysis and design result in poor job performances of employees and organizational performances. This essay is based on Philips’ changes in its workplace design in a factory. In the past, the factor’s old operation line had generated poor employee and organizational performance such as low morale of employees, high rate of turnover, and poor quality control. While redesign its operation line, Philips has gained a highRead MoreRaising The Minimum Wage Is The Issue Of Social Equality1398 Words   |  6 Pagesabout the poor working class. Today media focuses on the rich and upper middle class. For instance, they focus one Donald Trump, who is running for president. Instead of the issue of raising the minimum wage for fast food workers. The issue of raising the minimum wage is the issue of social equality. This shows the importance of how social equality is a major issue for people. Social equality has caused an inequality between the p oor and rich, which has limited the opportunities for the poor workingRead MoreWho are the Working Poor1280 Words   |  6 Pagesin our book, researching online, and grabbing a personal text, I was highly intrigued with the components that make up â€Å"the working poor,† it’s actual definition, and so much more. Before getting into the statistics, a simple definition of â€Å"the working poor† is that it is a group of people who spend about twenty-seven weeks or more in a year either working or looking for work, but their incomes fall below the level of poverty (USDAVIS, 2013). With this definition, it is understandable as well asRead MoreNickel and Dimed Essays1636 Words   |  7 Pagestranscends the gap that exists between rich and poor and relays a powerful accounting of the dark corners that lie somewhere beyond the popular portrayal of American prosperity. Throughout this book the reader will be intimately introduced to the world of the â€Å"working poor†, a place unfamiliar to the vast majority of affluent and middle-class Americans. What makes this world particularly real is the fact that we have all come across the hard-working hotel maid, store associate, or restaurant waitressRead MoreEssay about The Working Poor1510 Words   |  7 Pagesday to day basis. The s aying the rich get’s richer and poor gets poorer has never been so evident in today’s society. Let’s begin by explaining what poor is? According to (Encarta English Dictionary 2006) poor is explained as someone â€Å"lacking money, material possessions, unemployed and insecure†. Poor is also divided into two distinctive groups, the deserving and the undeserving poor (Levine Rizvi, 2005, p.38). â€Å"The deserving poor are poor through no fault of their own but as a result of a disability