$2.00 a day
"A revelatory account of poverty in America so deep that we, as a country, don't think it exists Jessica Compton's family of four would have no cash income unless she donated 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 since the mid-1990s -- households surviving on virtually no 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 1.5 million American households, including about 3 million children. Where do these families live? How did they get so desperately poor? Edin has "turned sociology upside down" (Mother Jones) with her procurement of rich -- and truthful -- interviews. Through the book's many compelling profiles, moving and startling answers emerge. The authors illuminate a troubling trend: a low-wage labor market that increasingly fails to deliver a living wage, and a growing but hidden landscape of survival strategies among America's extreme poor. More than a powerful expose, $2.00 a Day delivers new evidence and new ideas to our national debate on income inequality. "
Stats for nerds
2recommend
6mentions
2people
2016–2026years
100% recommend
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- it's "yes, and". Help those people who are selling their blood to buy happy meals first. I am not exaggerating. I wish I was. Check out the book "$2.00 a day: Living On Almost Nothing in America" for so much evidence. Disclaimer: I know the author now. Because I have to. It's related to the work we're doing. https://www.google.com/search?q=%242+a+day%3A+living+on+almo...
Beyond that, maybe SF really is too expensive a place to live in.
- I strongly recommend you check out the book "$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America". People -- in this country, not in the third world -- are regularly selling their blood so they can afford to eat. https://www.google.com/search?q=%242+a+day%3A+living+on+almo...
What difference does it make if the government is "capable" when it's not happening in practice?
A lot of areas in this country resemble the third world more than the rest of America. Don't take it from me. Try the book reference I provided and its citations.
- I've mentioned this book here before, but I can't stress enough how good it is.
$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America:
https://www.amazon.com/2-00-Day-Living-Nothing-America/dp/05...
- The article isn't great, but the audio snippets are a lot better.
I've posted this book a zillion times on HN, but "$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America" really changed a lot of my thoughts and feelings about what is going on in America today. Highly recommend reading it:
https://www.amazon.com/2-00-Day-Living-Nothing-America/dp/05...
- I cannot stress enough how excellent this book is. It's quite sad, but stirred something in me that I've not been able to quell since reading it.
$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America: https://www.amazon.com/2-00-Day-Living-Nothing-America/dp/05...
- Last three great books I've read are:
$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America
The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism
Makers and Takers: The Rise of Finance and the Fall of American Business
