$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America

by Edin, Kathryn J.
ISBN: 9780544811959
4.5 (2)
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Used - Trade Paperback - 9780544811959

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Overview

A New York Times Notable Book of the Year

"A remarkable book that could very well change the way we think about poverty in the United States." -- New York Times Book Review

"Powerful . . . Presents a deeply moving human face that brings the stunning numbers to life. It is an explosive book . . . The stories will make you angry and break your heart." -- American Prospect

Jessica Compton's family of four would have no income if she didn't donate plasma twice a week at her local donation center in Tennessee. Modonna Harris and her teenage daughter, Brianna, in Chicago, often have no food but spoiled milk on weekends.

After two decades of brilliant research on American poverty, Kathryn Edin noticed something she hadn't seen before -- households surviving on virtually no cash income. Edin teamed with Luke Shaefer, an expert on calculating incomes of the poor, to discover that the number of American families living on $2.00 per person, per day, has skyrocketed to one and a half million households, including about three million children.

Where do these families live? How did they get so desperately poor? Through this book's eye-opening analysis and many compelling profiles, moving and startling answers emerge. $2.00 a Day delivers new evidence and new ideas to our national debate on income inequality.

"Harrowing . . . An] important and heart-rending book, in the tradition of Michael Harrington's The Other America." -- Los Angeles Times
  • Format: TradePaperback
  • Author: Edin, Kathryn J.
  • ISBN: 9780544811959
  • Condition: Used
  • Dimensions: 7.90 x 0.70
  • Number Of Pages: 240
  • Publication Year: 2016

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  • Have some money, come out and buy, have no money, go home and cry

    Benjamin H. - 8 months ago

    One million Americans live on $2.00 cash a day, or less. This is the central fact of Kathryn Edin and Luke Schaefer's $2.00 a day, one worth memorizing. As welfare programs, private and public, have moved away from direct monetary aid, more and more of the very poor have been unable to acquire cash. The authors detail how they had expected to find a range of strategies that the very poor use to find cash, and were surprised to find that the central strategy is just to do without it. Their closing policy suggestion of expanded public employment among the poor is compelling.

    HPB Staff Review

  • Extreme Poverty in America

    Lynn P. - 7 years 7 months ago

    It's hard to believe that nearly 43 million Americans are living in poverty today! And, 1.5 million households are living on less than $2.00 a day. Families like Jessica Compton's family of four are existing on next to no cash income. Jessica's family receives other government benefits but for cash, she donates plasma twice a week. Sometimes she is not healthy enough to donate plasma. Selling SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits is one way to get cash. That is illegal and can result in prison time or a hefty fine. Most of the families profiled in the book have had at least one adult working in the last year. Despite that fact, most cannot climb out of poverty. The authors suggest ways a program could help those in extreme poverty with a cash supplement. Critics say that is a return to the old welfare program. There are no easy answers but this book is bound to make you think differently about being poor in America.

    HPB Staff Review