David Shipler's The Working Poor

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Sandy Brash once said, “You know, Mom, being poor is very expensive.” Imagine being a single parent with three jobs and still not being able to provide for your children and yourself. Struggling to where choosing which bills to pay each month becomes a common thing. Struggling to survive even though working three jobs, does not give people the money they need to be above the poverty line. People think they work as hard as they possibly can but tend to not realize that everyone has a different meaning to what hard work actually is. America’s society continues to hold the impression that hard work pays off. Society believes working protracted hours, exhausting shifts, and struggling to provide eventually pays off.
First, society believes that being away from family for hours at a time due to protracted hours will pay off in the end. People are struggling to not only provide but survive. They work unusually large shifts, and most companies do not even pay them for working overtime. In the book The Working Poor by David Shipler, there is a case with a woman named Caroline. Caroline walked to and from work everyday and never complained about being called into work overtime. Caroline had a daughter named Amber. She had no one to watch Amber when she had evening shifts therefore Amber stayed home by herself. According to David Shipler …show more content…
Most people in today’s society are lazy. These people feel like they should get paid for just showing up to work. Other people in today’s society are ambitious. They want to be able to do everything they possibly can to provide for themselves and families without struggling. They want the long hours and tiring shifts to pay off. Corporations are needing more people for work. These corporations hire people for some of the simplest jobs. Most people go to work just for the money. These people get up every morning dreading work. They would rather go to work and not want to be there than
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