$2.00 a Day

This important work describes the plight of the millions of Americans living in extreme poverty through the stories of eight families across the Midwest, from Chicago to the Mississippi Delta. The accounts are both shocking and nuanced, illustrating both the burden and the complexity of extreme poverty in the United States today. Allyson Johnson's strong, matter-of-fact alto voice presents the material clearly. She has taken the time to learn the names, both geographical and personal, that appear in the text. Her dialogue is excellent, making it clear who is speaking without distracting the listener from their stories. The authors are proponents of a new round of welfare reform in the United States and set out their solutions in the audiobook's last chapter. F.C. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

Starred review from June 22, 2015
This slim, searing look at extreme poverty deftly mixes policy research and heartrending narratives from a swath of the 1.5 million American households eking out an existence on cash incomes of $2 per person per day. Edin and Shaefer, respectively professors at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Michigan, trace the history of welfare in the U.S. up to the cuts enacted by President Clinton. They also explore the worlds of the desperately impoverished, profiling people who are able to find, at best, low-wage jobs with no bargaining power. Their subjects’ wrenching stories demonstrate the huge obstacles created by unstable housing and prevalent racial discrimination. Edin and Shaefer examine the many survival strategies used by the very poor to generate cash, including selling plasma, trading food stamps for discounted cash payments, and even selling their children’s Social Security numbers to people with fixed addresses, which the poorest lack. The strain of “the work of survival” has not defeated every person depicted in this book, but when a Mississippi teen is quoted saying that constant hunger can make you “feel like you want to be dead,” it’s impossible to ignore the high costs of abject poverty. Mixing academic seriousness and deft journalistic storytelling, this work may well move readers to positive action. Agent: Lisa Adams, Garamond Agency.

February 1, 2016

Edin (sociology, John Hopkins; Promises I Can Keep) and Shaefer (social work, Univ. of Michigan) here chronicle the unintended consequences of the 1996 welfare reforms meant to encourage employment and reduce reliance on government cash payments. The reforms have been modestly successful for poor people who are employed. However, for those who are unable to get in or stay in the workforce, life is harsher than ever. The number of individuals in America who survive on less than $2 per person per day, the World Bank standard for global poverty, is growing. It means being inadequately fed, inadequately housed, and underemployed or unemployed. This is compounded by the extremes companies go to in order to keep payroll costs down. For example, the use of software to build optimal schedules results in unpredictable and erratic work routines, which is especially difficult for parents who must arrange child care. Fluctuating hours lead to fluctuating paychecks, creating further difficulties for people on the margins. This work will add important information and understanding to the necessary ongoing public conversation about poverty and income distribution in America. Allyson Johnson narrates with authority. VERDICT Recommended for public libraries and those interested in economics and public policy. ["A must-read, whether you are for or against helping the poor in America": LJ 8/15 review of the Houghton Harcourt hc.]--Cynthia Jensen, Gladys Harrington Lib., Plano, TX

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