It's Not Like I'm Poor: How Working Families Make Ends Meet in a Post-Welfare World

Sarah Halpern-Meekin; Kathryn Edin; Laura Tach; Jennifer Sykes

Published by University of California Press 2015

It's Not Like I'm Poor

How Working Families Make Ends Meet in a Post-Welfare World

Sarah Halpern-Meekin , Kathryn Edin , Laura Tach and Jennifer Sykes

https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520959224

Overview
Contents

About this book

The world of welfare has changed radically. As the poor trade welfare checks for low-wage jobs, their low earnings qualify them for a hefty check come tax time—a combination of the earned income tax credit and other refunds. For many working parents this one check is like hitting the lottery, offering several months’ wages as well as the hope of investing in a better future. Drawing on interviews with 115 families, the authors look at how parents plan to use this annual cash windfall to build up savings, go back to school, and send their kids to college. However, these dreams of upward mobility are often dashed by the difficulty of trying to get by on meager wages. In accessible and engaging prose, It’s Not Like I’m Poor examines the costs and benefits of the new work-based safety net, suggesting ways to augment its strengths so that more of the working poor can realize the promise of a middle-class life.

Author / Editor information

Halpern-Meekin Sarah :

Sarah Halpern-Meekin is Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at the University of Wisconsin—Madison.

Kathryn Edin is Distinguished Bloomberg Professor in the Department of Sociology and the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. She is the coauthor of Doing the Best I Can: Fatherhood in the Inner City, Promises I Can Keep: Why Poor Women Put Motherhood before Marriage, and Making Ends Meet: How Single Mothers Survive Welfare and Low-Wage Work.

Laura Tach is Assistant Professor of Policy Analysis and Management at Cornell University.

Jennifer Sykes is Assistant Professor of Social Relations and Policy at James Madison College, Michigan State University.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Illustrations and Tables Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. Family Budgets: Staying in the Black, Slipping into the Red Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	23
2. Tax Time Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	59
3. The New Regime through the Lens of the Old Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	100
4. Beyond Living Paycheck to Paycheck Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	126
5. “Debt—I Am Hoping to Eliminate That Word!” Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	152
6. Capitalizing on the Promise of the EITC Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	182
Appendix A: Introduction to Boston and the Research Project Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	217
Appendix B: Qualitative Interview Guide Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	224
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	235
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	261
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	283

Language: English
Publisher: University of California Press
Pages
- Main content: 304

eBook

Published: January 14, 2015
ISBN: 9780520959224