Full Description
Despite an overhaul in the 1990s, the American welfare system remains with a business model focused on the bottom line. Crafted by male-dominated legislative bodies whose members most likely never had to choose between paying the rent or feeding their kids, established policies primarily protect the popular programs that ensure politicians' re-election. This book offers a feminist perspective on the 21st century attitude toward poverty, illustrated by the words of women forced to live every day with social policies they had no voice in developing. Topics include the struggles of daily life, crime, health care, education, employment, and a discussion of capitalism, inequality, greed, and moral obligation in a free society. In the unrestrained pursuit of wealth, this work shows that America has created a vast poverty problem, making the rich richer and forcing the poor into a forgotten class.
Contents
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction—Hustling Backwards: 21st Century Poverty as It Affects American Women
The Voices of Women in Poverty
1. How Hard Hard Gets: The Struggles of Daily Life on the Bottom Rung of the Economic Ladder
2. A Man Is Not the Answer: Women and Crime
3. The Poor Get Sicker—and the Sick Get Poor
4. Arithmetic or Ovaries: Poverty and Women's Educational Achievement
5. Last Stop on the Bus Line: The Working Life of Poor Women
6. She Ain't Heavy—She's My Sister: Political Will, Greed and Moral Obligation in a Free Society
Appendix—Methodology and Interview
Notes
Bibliography
Index
