It's Not Like I'm Poor - by Sarah Halpern-Meekin & Kathryn Edin & Laura Tach & Jennifer Sykes (Hardcover)

About the Book

"This book chronicles the impact of the sweeping transformation of the social safety net that occurred in the mid-1990s. With the dramatic expansion of tax credits--a combination of the Earned Income Tax Credit and other refunds--the economic fortunes of the working poor have been bolstered as never before. 'It's Not Like I'm Poor' looks at how working families plan to use their annual windfall to build up savings, go back to school, and send their kids to college. But dreams of economic mobility are often dashed by the reality of making monthly ends meet on meager wages."--Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

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.

Review Quotes

"Humanizes the working poor in an unforgettable way."

-- "The Kansas City Star" (2/27/2015 12:00:00 AM)

"It's Not Like I'm Poor inspires one to wonder whether there are existing educational interventions that, with changes to their delivery method, might lead to better experiences and outcomes for children and families... Not only did their work dispel many of the negative stereotypes of welfare-reliant mothers and present an honest picture of the financial realities these families faced, it also helped forecast the relative hardships families would face when the effects of welfare reform took shape."--Celia J. Gomez "Harvard Educational Review" (3/1/2016 12:00:00 AM)

"An important contribution to poverty policy scholarship."--Vanessa D. Wells "Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare" (6/11/2015 12:00:00 AM)

About the Author

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.