Making a decent living can be difficult. And over the past few decades, the ability to eke out a living seems to take extra effort than usual due to a myriad of factors like increased wealth disparity, economic recession, the high cost of health care, etc. One book that attempts to examine the plight of the middle class and their financial struggles is Squeezed: Why Our Families Can’t Afford America.Lots of books have been written about poverty, its causes, and its possible cures but this book is different. Rather than discuss the special problems of being poor in a nation as wealthy as the United States, this book instead devotes its time to the middle class and, to a lesser extent, to those in the upper middle class. The book talks about the problems with paying for day care, earning a living wage, working multiple jobs, co- op housing arrangements, and other strategies that have become increasingly commonplace as working families struggle to survive. The book even ventures into such areas as reality television, second careers, and the concern over robotics and automation as a threat to middle class survival.There is some good insight to be found in this book and I like that it includes statistics to back its claims. One of the more eye- opening discussions in the book is the plight of newly- minted lawyers and the difficulties many of them face as they try to find a good job and pay back massive levels of student loan debt. Many people decide on a career in law because they know that attorneys are generally well- paid, but little do they realize the overall lack of jobs available. Like the book says, a large percentage of newer attorneys in the work force are either unemployed or they are working in areas that have nothing to do with the law, due largely to the lack of available work.I like the first half of this book because I agree that the middle class is getting squeezed and that the growing wealth and earnings gap between the haves and have- nots is growing far too large. Where the book loses me is toward the end when it starts to discuss topics like second careers and the supposedly predatory for- profit schools that lure older adults into signing up to earn degrees that are likely to go nowhere. What I don’t like is the book’s position that these schools are taking advantage of gullible people and marketing to them with lofty job promises that cannot be kept. First, we are talking about grown adults and anyone who decides on a new career should have the smarts to investigate first to make sure they know whether the chosen field is lucrative or not. Yes, some of these degrees are less valuable, but I don’t see how/why we should blame the schools for this, since all they are doing is trying to market their service. Most any marketing strategy is based at least a little bit on exaggeration. If we don’t allow this, and we choose to hold the businesses accountable, then wouldn’t we eventually have to outlaw most types of marketing? Or least force it to modify itself to the point that it would no longer be effective?Another thing I don’t like is the over- emphasis on for- profit education as the perpetrator of all things evil. There are plenty of non- profit schools that do similar things. They shouldn’t get a pass just because they are non- profit. I had similar problems with the books closing chapter, on robotics. Yes, it is true that automation is gradually taking away middle class jobs, but eliminating the mundane, making work more efficient, etc is part of any growing economy. And, as tasks become automated, they are usually replaced by other jobs, like those that focus on knowing how to service and operate the automated machines. The book completely overlooks that aspect of change. And I don’t like how the book seems to think that all jobs in certain sectors, like nursing, will be completely automated at some point in the future. I don’t see that happening. I think some things will be automated, but there will still be nurses and they will still be in need for those tasks that require a human presence.Growing up and making a living in the middle class is increasingly difficult. The earnings gap between the top earners and lower wage earners is cause for concern and Squeezed does a good job casting light on this growing problem. I like, too, that the book talks about upper- middle class struggles because it shows that more people are getting squeezed than many realize. I take issue with certain other chapters, however, so on balance, I rate Squeezed as an average read overall. It certainly has good points to make and the writing is top- notch, but it gets a little bit carried away with some of its conclusions.