Sarah's review
The Working Poor: Invisible in America by David K. Shipler
This book is an excellent look at the lives of people living in poverty and a dissection of the myriad factors that keep people in poverty. The author presents an unbiased look at the personal and societal factors that trap people in poverty. Shipler clearly spent significant time with the working poor and uses their stories to illustrate his points. As a social worker, much of the content was familiar to me, but I did appreciate Shipler's eloquent and well-researched look at the poor and the encouragement to us as a society to build the skill and will to address these issues. My only complaint is that I wish Shipler had more thoroughly examined some of the current programs in place, such as welfare-to-work. He devotes a chapter to this program, focusing on two success stories and only skimming the problems with this program. I would have liked a bit more critical analysis of this program.
