The Working Poor: Invisible in America.

• Author: Kreyche, Gerald F.
• Position: Book Review

THE WORKING POOR Invisible in America BY DAVID K. SHIPLER ALFRED A. KNOPF 2004, 320 PAGES, $25.00

At first glance, the title The Working Poor looks like an oxymoron such as "bittersweet" or "deafening silence." After all, in this great land of opportunity, the expectation is that if people are willing to work, they can pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Yet, there is the notion that someone can work and still not make a living. Such is the case with the working poor.

David K. Shipler, a Pulitzer Prize winner, takes a hard look at those whose Sisypbean labor seems to produce pure frustration--unable to advance in their jobs or move above the poverty line into a better and more dignified life.

Shipler lists example after example of individuals who are stuck in poorly paying dead-end jobs. His revealing interviews with them make for fascinating case studies. While a compassionate person, Shipler nonetheless is not some bleeding heart. He places the blame on the individual and society. His myriad observations lead him to conclude that, "For practically every family, then, the ingredients of poverty are part financial and part psychological, part personal, part past and part present."

To make his case, he cites immigrants who live in a ghetto of their own making, thus avoiding the need to learn English. Much like Native Americans, they fail to jump into the mainstream, thus become a people apart. Examples are the Vietnamese in Minnesota and Texas, Latinos in Los Angeles, Hispanics in Florida, and blacks in the inner city ghettos.

Although difficult for outsiders to believe, many are quite satisfied living day to day, having become inured to their situation, unmotivated to "get ahead." Then, too, they tend to be short-range in their views, agreeing with the adage that "An egg today is better than a chicken tomorrow" A...