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BETH SHULMAN
A vast impoverished population languishes in the midst of our economy.
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WORKING AND POOR IN THE USA
For generations, Americans shared a tacit understanding that if you worked hard, you could earn a livable income and provide
basic security for yourself and your family. That promise has been broken. More than 30 million Americans—one in four
workers—are stuck in low-wage jobs that do not provide the basics for a decent life.
As we celebrate the fortieth anniversary of President Johnson’s declaration of the War on Poverty, we are reminded that
economic growth alone is not sufficient to combat the problem. Today, the war on poverty must be fought not on the margins
but in the very mainstream of our economy. It must be a war to restore the promise of work.
While the Democratic presidential contenders are vocal about general economic conditions, ill-advised tax cuts and continuing
unemployment, they have only recently begun to point out a fundamental economic failure—the failure of work to meet
people’s needs.
Finding ways to make sure that people who work hard can take care of their families would put the Democrats on the offensive
instead of their customary defensive position on family values. It would have broad appeal to working Americans, as millions
of middle-income jobs take on the characteristics of the low-wage economy—layoffs, outsourcing, unaffordable healthcare and
vanishing pension benefits. And it would have great potential to help those suffering in low-wage jobs—workers like Cynthia
Porter.
Cynthia Porter works full time as a certified nursing assistant at a nursing home in Marion, Alabama. When she comes on duty
at 11 PM, she makes rounds, checking the residents for skin tears and helping them go to the toilet or use a bedpan. She has to
make sure she turns the bedridden every two hours, or they will get bedsores. And if bedsores are left unattended, she tells me,
they can get so bad you can put your fist in them. But there aren’t enough people on her shift. Often only two nursing assistants
are on duty to take care of forty-five residents. And Cynthia must also wash the wheelchairs, clean up the dining rooms, mop
the floors and scrub out the refrigerator, drawers and closets during her shift. Before she leaves, she helps the residents get
dressed for breakfast.
For all this, Cynthia makes $350 every two weeks. She is separated from her husband, who gives her no child support. The
first two weeks each month she pays her $150 rent. The next two weeks, she pays her water and her electric bills. It is difficult
to afford Clorox or shampoo. Insuring that her children are fed properly is a stretch. She is still paying off the bicycles she
bought for them last Christmas.
Beth Shulman is a lawyer and consultant focusing on work-related issues. This article is adapted from The Betrayal of
Work: How Low-Wage Jobs Fail 30 Million Americans (New Press).
Reprinted by permission from the February 9, 2004 issue of The Nation, pp. 20–22. Copyright © 2004 by The Nation. For
subscription information, call 1-800-333-8536. Portions of each week’s Nation magazine can be accessed at
www.thenation.com.
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