Jobs Aren't Enough: Toward a New Economic Mobility for Low-Income Families - Softcover

Iversen, Roberta; Armstrong, Annie

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1592133568 ISBN 13: 9781592133567

Publisher: Temple University Press,U.S., 2006

Synopsis

Examines the obstacles to economic mobility for low- and increasingly middle-income families

About this title

Review

"This book is highly recommended, and its in-depth treatment of the historical and social context of concentrated poverty and policy alternatives would make it particularly useful in a graduate seminar....The editors have done a remarkable job of putting together a volume in which each chapter seems to build on the examples and policy recommendations of the others. Rather than being an assortment of articles on a theme, the chapters together create a `collective wisdom' of community economic development." -Journal of American Ethnic History

Synopsis

In this gripping ethnographic account, Roberta Iversen and Annie Laurie Armstrong examine the obstacles to economic mobility for low- and increasingly middle-income families in 21st century America. The 'voices' of twenty-five families in Milwaukee, New Orleans, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Seattle and of hundreds of people who are linked to the families' lives, show that the historic myths about opportunity, merit, and 'bootstraps' are outdated and, in some cases, downright dangerous for many urban workers and their families. Iversen and Armstrong show that the social institutions of family, education, labour market and policy all intersect to influence mobility. "Jobs Aren't Enough" proposes a new mobility paradigm grounded in cooperation, collaboration, mutuality and revitalization of the 'public will' to maximize both "household and profit."

Edition details

• Publisher: Temple University Press,U.S.
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1592133568
• ISBN 13: 9781592133567
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 296