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“I Couldn’t Put Up with It No More”: Perceived Mistreatment and Distrust at Work

Judith A. Levine

in Ain't No Trust: "How Bosses, Boyfriends, and Bureaucrats Fail Low-Income Mothers and Why It Matters"

This chapter explores women's experiences in the workplace as they interacted with supervisors and coworkers. The workplace is an arena in which both employers and employees face uncertainty. As ... More

This chapter explores women's experiences in the workplace as they interacted with supervisors and coworkers. The workplace is an arena in which both employers and employees face uncertainty. As employers do not know which employees will perform reliably, employees similarly do not know whether employers will treat them fairly. Women in low-wage jobs often feel their supervisors (and sometimes their coworkers) mistreat them and thus do not trust that they will get a fair shake at work. Surprisingly, this distrust led women to quit their jobs not only before welfare reform, when they could reliably replace wages (at least in part) with welfare benefits, but also after reform, when no such financial guarantee was in place. Quick turnover in jobs was thus due not only to factors outside the workplace, but also to traits of the workplace itself—in this case, the conditions that produced employee distrust of supervisors.Less

Trade, Jobs, and Wages

Douglas A. Irwin

in Free Trade under Fire: Fifth Edition

This chapter focuses on the most frequent argument in favour of limiting trade, which implies that jobs will be saved in industries that compete against imports. It explains how reducing trade saves ... More

This chapter focuses on the most frequent argument in favour of limiting trade, which implies that jobs will be saved in industries that compete against imports. It explains how reducing trade saves jobs only by destroying jobs elsewhere in the economy. It analyzes the opponents of free trade that have argued that imports have replaced good, high-wage jobs with bad, low-wage jobs. The chapter contradicts critiques of free trade by arguing that jobs in industries that compete against imports have been largely low-skill, low-wage jobs. It also examines the extent to which trade with developing countries has contributed to the rise in inequality within the United States.Less

“I’m just a laborer”: The Laborer Narrative

Christine Jeske

in The Laziness Myth: Narratives of Work and the Good Life in South Africa

This chapter investigates how people make meaning of their lives in low-wage, low-status jobs, often by distancing themselves and the good life from work by calling themselves “just laborers.” It ... More

This chapter investigates how people make meaning of their lives in low-wage, low-status jobs, often by distancing themselves and the good life from work by calling themselves “just laborers.” It defines the word “laborer” as someone who is “working without skill,” “just doing the work,” not doing things that people aspire to do. It adds that treating oneself as just a laborer is a way of demanding a certain bargain, which is saying, I'm in a job that does not offer dignity or a good life, and I will not offer my life to the job either. It explains that for people in disappointing jobs, calling themselves just laborers communicates that their jobs are just a way to earn money; it is not a determinant of their identity, their status, their dignity, or the good life. In some sense, they have strategically estranged themselves from work. They are embracing some degree of alienation by intentionally separating their identity, purpose, and social ties from their acts of productive labor. In doing so, they can define their identity by their communities and interactions at home, not by their working life.Less

The Earned Income Tax Credit as an anti-poverty programme: palliative or cure?

Phyllis Jeroslow

in Social Policy Review 25: Analysis and debate in social policy, 2013

One of the questions raised by the competition state thesis is what the consequences are for citizens of governments who are shifting social policies closer towards the needs of employers and the ... More

One of the questions raised by the competition state thesis is what the consequences are for citizens of governments who are shifting social policies closer towards the needs of employers and the wider economy. Phyllis Jeroslow's chapter deals with related questions in examining the impact of in-work tax credits on poverty in the US. Jeroslow focuses specifically on the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) in the US, but many of the lessons she highlights could apply anywhere. She illustrates the failings of the EITC as an anti-poverty strategy, indicating that, as a policy, its benefits are just as valuable to employers as they are to the poor. Indeed, the EITC appears just as likely to lock the poor into low-wage jobs and long-term poverty as it is to alleviate poverty, a fact brought home to the reader by Jeroslow's reminder of the 35-year pedigree of such policies in the US.Less

A Handful of Dimes

Deepak Singh

in How May I Help You?: An Immigrant's Journey from MBA to Minimum Wage

This chapter talks about how everyone at the store was struggling to pay their bills. They worked hard and made ‘good’ money during Christmas, but it wasn’t good enough.

Hard Work Is Insufficient

Mark Robert Rank, Lawrence M. Eppard, and Heather E. Bullock

in Poorly Understood: What America Gets Wrong About Poverty

Chapter 6 explores the role of hard work in avoiding poverty. It is often assumed that anyone can get ahead and avoid poverty by working hard. This chapter argues that hard work is a necessary but ... More

Chapter 6 explores the role of hard work in avoiding poverty. It is often assumed that anyone can get ahead and avoid poverty by working hard. This chapter argues that hard work is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for getting ahead in life. Consequently, although it is difficult to imagine individuals doing well in life without a decent amount of effort and work, working hard and being motivated by no means guarantee success. Several examples are given of individuals working hard but finding it difficult to escape poverty. The number and nature of low-wage work are also discussed.Less

Sources and Impact of Rising Inequality in Denmark

Ioana Neamtu and Niels Westergaard-Nielsen

in Changing Inequalities and Societal Impacts in Rich Countries: Thirty Countries' Experiences

This chapter finds that income inequality in Denmark has increased in the past 30 years, mainly not only due to the abundance of students and young individuals taking on low-paid jobs, but also due ... More

This chapter finds that income inequality in Denmark has increased in the past 30 years, mainly not only due to the abundance of students and young individuals taking on low-paid jobs, but also due to the higher labour market participation of women in full-time jobs. Similarly, we find that increasing returns to education and increasing levels of education for both men and women have an increasing effect on income inequality. Last but not least, we find that family formation in the modern society is in itself a driver of inequality. Moreover, we find that the changes in deprivation, crime rates, poverty risks, happiness, trust, and other more qualitative variables do not unanimously reflect increasing income inequality, probably because inequality has increased within almost all groups in the society. The recent increase in inequality is partly a product of changes in the tax system.Less