Mary's review
Differences That Matter: Social Policy and the Working Poor in the United States and Canada
by Dan Zuberi
You should probably get a job as a housekeeper to see what it is really like working in a hotel....!
Mary's review
Differences That Matter: Social Policy and the Working Poor in the United States and Canada by Dan Zuberi
Mary's review
rating:
This book was dry and academic, yet I'm glad I forced myself to read it. The author compares the lives of hotel workers in Seattle and Vancouver. They work for the exact same hotel chains. Yet because of governmental policies in these two countries, the quality of life for those in Vancouver is much better. Things like community centers, parks and beaches easily available. City planning things like mixed-income neighborhoods, so the low-income folks in Vancouver don't have to live in ghettos and fear for their safety. And policies on how easy it is (or not) to start a union. In the United States it's much harder. Much easier for the employer to intimidate workers at the workplace. He has a concluding chapter laying out what social policies should be pushed for (in both countries) to help the working poor.
You should probably get a job as a housekeeper to see what it is really like working in a hotel....!