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Portraits of the Near Poor in America
Beacon Press
September 2007
On Sale: September 5, 2007
288 pages
ISBN: 0807041394
EAN: 9780807041390
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
An urgent examination of the lives of millions of hardworking AmericansΓ’β¬βneither poor nor middle classΓ’β¬βwho live without a safety net The Missing Class gives voice to the 57 million AmericansΓ’β¬βincluding 21 percent of the nation's childrenΓ’β¬β who are sandwiched between poor and middle class. While government programs help the needy and politicians woo the more fortunate, the "Missing Class" is largely invisible and ignored. Through the experiences of nine families, Katherine Newman and Victor Tan Chen trace the unique problems faced by individuals in this large and growing demographicΓ’β¬β the "near poor"Γ’β¬βwho have transformed their lives through hard work and determination. Newman and Chen explain where these families came from, how they've struggled to make a decent living, and why they're stuck without a safety net. The question for the Missing Class is not whether they're doing better than the truly poorΓ’β¬βthey are. The question is whether these individualsΓ’β¬βon the razor's edge of subsistenceΓ’β¬βare safely ensconced in the Missing Class or in danger of losing it all. An eloquent argument for the need to think about inequality in a broader way, The Missing Class has much to tell us about whether the American dream still exists for those willing to sacrifice for it.
 Media BuzzMarketplace - PRI - October 6, 2007
Marketplace - PRI - October 5, 2007
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