Chutes and Ladders : Navigating the Low-Wage Labor Market

Katherine S Newman

ISBN 10: 0674027531 / ISBN 13: 9780674027534

Published by Harvard University Press Apr 2008, 2008

About this Item

Neuware - Now that the welfare system has been largely dismantled, the fate of Americäs poor depends on what happens to them in the low-wage labor market. In this timely volume, Newman explores whether the poorest families benefited from the tight labor markets and good economy in the late 1990s.

Seller Inventory # 9780674027534

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Chutes and Ladders : Navigating the Low-Wage Labor Market
• Publisher: Harvard University Press Apr 2008
• Publication Date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0674027531
• ISBN 13: 9780674027534
• Binding: Taschenbuch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 228W x 149H x 30D millimeters 228 millimeters width by 149 millimeters height by 30 millimeters depth
• Weight: 452 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Now that the welfare system has been largely dismantled, the fate of America's poor depends on what happens to them in the low-wage labor market. In this timely volume, Katherine S. Newman explores whether the poorest workers and families benefited from the tight labor markets and good economic times of the late 1990s. Following black and Latino workers in Harlem, who began their work lives flipping burgers, she finds more good news than we might have expected coming out of a high-poverty neighborhood. Many adult workers returned to school and obtained trade certificates, high school diplomas, and college degrees. Their persistence paid off in the form of better jobs, higher pay, and greater self-respect. Others found union jobs and, as a result, brought home bigger paychecks, health insurance, and a pension. More than 20 percent of those profiled in Chutes and Ladders are no longer poor.

A very different story emerges among those who floundered even in a good economy. Weighed down by family obligations or troubled partners and hindered by poor training and prejudice, these "low riders" moved in and out of the labor market, on and off public assistance, and continued to depend upon the kindness of family and friends.

Supplementing finely drawn ethnographic portraits, Newman examines the national picture to show that patterns around the country paralleled the findings from some of New York's most depressed neighborhoods. More than a story of the shifting fortunes of the labor market, Chutes and Ladders asks probing questions about the motivations of low-wage workers, the dreams they have for the future, and their understanding of the rules of the game.

About the Author

Katherine S. Newman is Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor, and Torrey Little Professor of Sociology, at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.