The Betrayal of Work: How Low-Wage Jobs Fail 30 Million Americans [Paperback]

Beth Shulman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2005

The book Newsweek's Anna Quindlen said "should be required reading for every presidential candidate and member of Congress."

Following its publication in hardcover, the critically acclaimed The Betrayal of Work became one of the most influential policy books about economic life in America; it was discussed in the pages of Newsweek, Business Week, Fortune, the Washington Post, Newsday, and USA Today, as well as in public policy journals and in broadcast interviews, including a one-on-one with Bill Moyers on PBS's Now. The American Prospect's James K. Galbraith's praise was typical: "Shulman's slim and graceful book is a model combination of compelling portraiture, common sense, and understated conviction."

Beth Shulman's powerfully argued book offers a full program to address the injustice faced by the 30 million Americans who work full time but do not make a living wage. As the influential Harvard Business School newsletter put it, Shulman "specifically outlines how structural changes in the economy may be achieved, thus expanding opportunities for all Americans." This edition includes a new afterword that intervenes in the post-election debate by arguing that low-wage work is an urgent moral issue of our time.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Betrayal shows how working lives can get nasty fast. -- USA Today

The Betrayal of Work is the perfect accompaniment to Nickel and Dimed. I wish I'd written it myself! -- Barbara Ehrenreich

A powerful book. -- E.J. Dionne, The Washington Post

A vital book. -- Thomas Oliphant, The Boston Globe

An exhaustively researched, quietly passionate book. -- Ford Foundation Report

Must-reading for anyone who cares about the future of the American economy and American society. -- Hedrick Smith

Shulman documents the personal stories—and explodes many of the myths—of America's lowest-paid workers. -- Fortune

About the Author

Beth Shulman is a labor consultant and former vice president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union in Washington, D.C., where she lives.

Product Details

• Paperback: 255 pages
• Publisher: New Press, The (October 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159558000X
• ISBN-13: 978-1595580009
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #697,857 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sad Truth's Hard to Bear, November 27, 2003

By 

Michael Stephens (Ft.Worth, Texas United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Betrayal of Work: How Low-Wage Jobs Fail 30 Million Americans and Their Families (Hardcover)

Although I haven't read the oft-referenced NICKLED AND DIMED, I discovered this book totally by accident and found it both informative and True. As one of the new "working poor", I responded immediately to the personal anecdotes. I am an educated white male in my early-forties who as recently as three years ago made $35,000 a year. Now, the best job I can find is in a bookstore for $8.50 an hour! And in my own immediate family, there are three others who have been struggling to find ANY job for two years, one of whom has a BA in Accounting!! So if anything, the book's alledged questionable anecdotes criticized by others certainly speak to this reader. Indeed, one could argue that anecdotes often reveal greater Truths than dry facts....

Of course, Shulman has an agenda, but it is one backed up by facts, quoted in her book and elsewhere. It is undebatably true that the job situation in the US is changing for the worse, and it doesn't take this book, or others, to prove it, but simple observation. However, it is great to see many of the facts I've heard so many times elsewhere collected in a single volume.

Sadly, Shulman is probably preaching to the converted. While I agree with every point in the book, its doubtful a Conservative or corporate-apologist would -- but then again, they are the ones who got us in this mess and are profiting from it, so what do they care? For me, this book makes me want to read more, so I think I'll check out "Nickled and Dimed" now....

21 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars don't listen to the last reviewer, October 4, 2003

By 

og (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Betrayal of Work: How Low-Wage Jobs Fail 30 Million Americans and Their Families (Hardcover)

This is a well documented, highly important book in the tradition of Nickel & Dimed. If you're interested in how our society fails to provide for millions of Americans who are working far more than 40 hour weeks, read this book.

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Untenable solutions for some thorny problems, March 16, 2004

By 

T Ellis (High Point, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Betrayal of Work: How Low-Wage Jobs Fail 30 Million Americans and Their Families (Hardcover)

Although in the blurb on the front of this book, Barbara Ehrenreich says she wishes she'd written it herself, this book is no Nickel and Dimed; it is less readable and much more tendentious. Beth Shulman does a satisfactory problem of describing the problems low-wage workers face (although I think she could've used a lighter hand with the statistics), but her proposed solutions are radically socialistic ones that in my opinion would have a devastating effect on the fabric of life in the U.S.

She does make several incisive points, though. Contrary to what many of us believe, there is very little mobility out of low wage work, even if one works hard. Also, low wage earners in most other affluent countries are significantly better off than their counterparts in the U.S., which is touted as the Land of Opportunity.

This book, for all its shortcomings, did make me think differently about low wage earners and the problems they face, but if you're only going to read one book on the subject, I'd recommend Nickel and Dimed.