Don't be alarmed at the long list under the "read" header. I hope you won't be overburdened by what I'm asking you to read by Today in the e-mail I sent out yesterday.. I'm getting the assignment posted so late that I though it would be a good idea to print the subtitles to the chapters in order to give you a sense of what is coming up.
In Chapter I
I'd like to have you think about why our author chose these specific cities. I can suspect you can guess why Flint was chosen, if you have been following the economic explosion of Michigan and the ongoing water crisis caused by lead in Flint's water. You may have ideas about Newark as well, after reading The Samaritan. I think Albertville may not be as obvious a choice. I would like to have you find something interesting about each of these, and all a link to your finding in your resource folder. City-Data would be a good place to hunt. You might also try Google. If I do, I would focus on News, images, and perhaps videos.
In Chapter 2
I would like to have you thing about the sequence in the chapter. Is it simply random, or is there something about it which makes sense to you? If there is, please, suggest what is important about the sequence, and add your comment to your resource folder.
The data in this book is based on earlier sources and census studies. How have things changed? There is currently a fight to raise the minimum wage to $15.00 per hour. Is that wage "livable"?
Thinking about what you may have seen on campus and elsewhere, is it true that low wage workers get no respect? What to you think? What have you seen to prove your point?
If you could change ONE thing in today's America, based upon the topics covered in Chapter 2, what would it be? Write a comment on this and add it to your resource folder.
In Chapter 3
Take a look at the low paying jobs listed above, and try to see life through the eyes of those who experience them.
Shulman writes, Put another way, jobs that require no education and training beyond high school except on-the-job training will account for 57 percent of the job growth between 2000 and 2010.23 Only 27 percent of U.S. jobs will require a bachelor’s degree or above. Have you chosen your major or majors based on possibilities of getting work, or have you chosen them based on following your dream? You may be lucky, as I was to pursue an education which allowed me to do both.
In Chapter 4.
Caste is a word which indicates permanent social position. Some careful reading will be necessary. For example, the chapter begins with this: "Who are America’s low-wage workers? Many presume they are teenagers, illegal immigrants, or high school dropouts." If one misses the presume, one might think Shulman means the opposite of what she does mean.
BEYOND THE BASICS—A STEEP HIERARCHY spends the chapter seeing how race, gender, and ethnicity merge to create the Betrayal of Work. For example "Even within the low-wage sector, women are still concentrated in a number of low-status, low-paying jobs that are generally typecast as “female” jobs." Is this true today? How many secretaries are male on campus? Any?
Shulman writes about immigrant workers: "These new immigrants work in a wide array of jobs, but they are more likely than natives to work in the harshest jobs in the low-wage workforce. Forty-three percent of foreign-born workers were employed in low-wage jobs in 1997. The economic gap between today’s immigrants and native-born workers is three times larger" Are things worse for immigrant workers in the Trump era? Excluding full time faculty, do you see many African-American, Islamic Americans or others who are "different" working on campus? If so, where? If why not, why not?
Shulman also writes new immigrants work in a wide array of jobs, but they are more likely than natives to work in the harshest jobs in the low-wage workforce. Forty-three percent of foreign-born workers were employed in low-wage jobs in 1997. The economic gap between today’s immigrants and native-born workers is three times larger. Why do you think this might be true. She also writes "Many undocumented workers were working forty-eight hours and making $180 per week." Google "Undocumented" or "Sanctuary Cities" to see if you find some ideas.
I don't know if we will get to cover all this. I also know this was Spring Weekend. I hope you've had a good time and are now recovered from that good time.
CHAPTER 2 Piling On: Why It’s About More Than Money
WHAT’S A LOW WAGE: WHAT IT TAKES TO MAKE ENDS MEET
HEALTH: WHY LOW-WAGE WORKERS CAN’T GET SICK
FEWER HOURS AND MORE EVENING SHIFTS: WHY LOW-WAGE
WORKERS CAN’T GET A STEADY DAY JOB
FAMILY: WHY LOW-WAGE WORKERS CAN’T WORK AND PROPERLY
CARE FOR THEIR CHILDREN
SAFETY: WHY LOW-WAGE JOBS ARE UNSAFE
DIGNITY: HOW LOW-WAGE WORKERS GET NO RESPECT
SECURITY: WHY LOW-WAGE WORKERS DON’T THINK ABOUT THE
FUTURE
Consider, for example "Yet the average part-time worker gets paid 60 percent of the average wage rate of the full-time worker". Have any of you worked a part time job? What was your pay, compared to full-time workers.
Consider each of these, and if possible add an idea to your resource folder.
Chapter 3, In the Heart of Our Economy and Our Lives is also divided into two parts.
The first provides back ground, and also discusses the relationship between low income work, gender, and ethnicity.
The Second part describes the jobs themselves.
This is the list of jobs.
1-800 CALL-CENTER WORKER
CHILD-CARE WORKER
JANITOR
POULTRY-PROCESSING WORKER
HOME HEALTH-CARE AIDE
GUEST ROOM ATTENDANT
PHARMACY TECHNICAL ASSISTANT
RECEPTIONIST (When I was in college in the '60's I worked as a bell boy and night receptionist.)
Chapter, 4, The Demography of a Caste
Caste is a word which indicates permanent social position. Some careful reading will be
necessary. For example, the chapter begins with this: "Who are America’s low-wage workers?
Many presume they are teenagers, illegal immigrants, or high school dropouts." If one misses
the presume, one might think Shulman means the opposite of what she does mean.
The Shulman Speech mentioned top left is actually here. Sorry about that.
Read, in The Betrayal of Work,
Chapter 5: How Low-Wage Jobs Damage Us All
Chapter 6: An Apology for Indifference
It looks as if we have a long, long, way to go in this book, until we realize that there are nearly 100 pagers of notes included. We'll tackle chapters five and six today, and the last two on Monday, our last day together. As is the case in the other chapters, Shulman divides her chapters into parts.
Chapter 5, How Low-Wage Jobs Damage Us All, includes her thoughts on those of us who are above the poverty line still are damaged by the low wages people are paid at the bottom of the economic ladder. The sections of this chapter include;
The first of these is a belief in Upward Mobility.
The Second Myth is that "Skills" will solve the problem.
Third is that we have to do it because the economy has been "globalized".
The last is that relying on volunteers, rather than government policies is the way to help those who are at the bottom of the economic ladder.
Childhood poverty, which at the time she wrote the book, was growing very quickly.
Democracy itself, due to participating rates--those at the lowest end of the ladder are the least likely to vote
Damage to "Family Values". These include some striking facts of which I was not aware until I had read the book.
Damage to our Communities. Here, she mentions some things which we often do not consider. For example, local services are provided by local money--primarily through real estate taxes and local sales taxes.
Damage to the Economy. We'll see that Shulman thinks things which are done to "improve" the economy actually damage it.
Costs to us as "Consumers".Some of these are "indirect" and some are "direct". We'll examine these as best we can in the time we have.
Costs to our nation's health. understanding her point of view becomes a little easier when we think of things we've thought about before, such as "indigent burials", and that hospitals are required to treat emergency care needs whether or not the client can pay for the.
Chapter 6, An Apology forIndifference, begins with the assertion that most Americans are unaware or "indifferent" to the sufferings of those living at the bottom of the wage scale. This may be another case where numbers of us "blame the victim," rather than putting ourselves in their shoes. The chapter proceeds to examining a number of "myths"
As you think about these, I'd like to have you do a little research for interesting things which you can add to your resource folder. You might, for instance check some of the resources Shulman herself used, like the Work and Family Institute (now the Families and Work Institute) You may want to bookmark this for use in other courses, as the information is broad-ranging and fascinating.
Do we use the term "skills" too narrowly? Shulman thinks so. She wrote, "The labeling of these jobs and the workers in these jobs as low-skilled has given further credence to the skills solution. Skills have been defined in terms of educational level or technical expertise, generally related to the ability to use computers. But this notion overlooks the types of skills possessed by child-care workers, nursing home workers, or hotel workers—skills of patience, caring, conscientiousness, and communication."
Finally, Shulman wrote this book over ten years ago. Take a little time (I hope you can) to check whether things have changed much today. You might use Google, and terms such as "Childhood Poverty in the USA" You might find something like this. Note that Google allows both general searches and searches for newspaper articles, images, videos, and more.
Bethany Home, where my mother spent the last 10 years of her life after developing Alzheimer's. She died just 6 days sort of her 100th birthday. The people who cared for he had the skills Shulman mentions above.
