Low-Wage Workers in the New Economy [Paperback]

Richard Kazis (Editor), Marc S. Miller (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2001 | ISBN-10: 0877667055 | ISBN-13: 978-0877667056

Since 1994, welfare roles have dropped by more than 50 percent nationwide. More than half of these people--about 800,000--have moved into unsubsidized paid employment, yet the very success of welfare reform has brought another problem into stark relief: for many people, getting into work doesn't mean getting out of poverty. People who leave welfare typically find a job paying between $6 and $8 per hour, well below the income needed to bring their families above the poverty line. In this collection of original essays, an impressive line-up of experts explores how our nation can help these and all working Americans pull themselves out of poverty through work. They describe the extent and contours of the challenge facing our nation's working poor. They draw lessons from practice and policy about promising approaches to helping low-wage workers advance into the economic mainstream. And they recommend both principles and specific policy interventions for state and federal policymakers.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Richard Kazis is vice president for policy at Jobs for the Future. A former social studies teacher at an alternative high school for returning dropouts, he has also supervised a Neighborhood Youth Corps program in Baltimore, helped organize fast food workers in Detroit, and studied informal, experiential education at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Mr. Kazis has written many studies, reports, and articles; his Jobs for the Future publications include New Labor Market Intermediaries: What's Driving Them? Where Are They Headed? (1998), What's Next for School-to-Career? (1999), and Business Participation in Welfare to Work: Lessons from the United States (1999).

Marc Miller is director of publications at Jobs for the Future. Before joining Jobs for the Future, Dr. Miller directed publications and communications for Cultural Survival, an international human rights organization. He has also served as senior editor of Technology Review, MIT's policy magazine. As managing editor at the Institute for Southern Studies, he directed major publications projects on a variety of topics, including working women, electoral politics, and Southern history.

Product Details

• Paperback: 383 pages
• Publisher: Urban Inst Pr (September 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0877667055
• ISBN-13: 978-0877667056
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,941,026 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)