Working Scared (Or Not at All): The Lost Decade, Great Recession, and Restoring the Shattered American Dream

by Carl E. Van Horn

At the end of the twentieth century, with the economy booming and unemployment at historic lows, the American economy was a job-producing marvel. The first decade of the twenty-first century was entirely different as the worst economy in seventy years, the Great Recession, crushed the lives of tens of millions of workers and their families, forestalled careers, scrapped hopes for a college education, delayed retirements, and foreclosed family homes. American workers experienced the best and worst of times and have endured an entire “lost decade” of high unemployment, stagnant or declining incomes, and anxiety. Working Scared draws upon nearly 25,000 interviews with employed and unemployed Americans conducted from, 1998 to 2012. These “voices” of American workers tell a compelling story about wrenching structural changes and recessions during one of the most volatile periods in U.S. economic history. This book represents one of the most comprehensive social science research portraits of the views of American workers’ about their jobs, the workplace, and government’s role in the labor market. Working Scared will help citizens, policy makers, educators, business, union, and community leaders better understand what is happening to the United States workforce. It also describes the essential national priorities and policies that will assist frustrated, angry and scared American workers and the reforms that will help restore the American dream of secure employment and intergenerational progress.

226 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Linda Barry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now here is another read that was scary, unfortunetly it was a non fiction book about the economy and work force and work place of our country. It was very readable and full of responsible resources for the reader who wants to devel more into a particular area. This is a book to read if you work in America, have children who work in America or have children who are in school. This is a sobering look at the 21st century marketplace, realities and horrors. It is time to put to bed the notion that if you work hard, pull yourself up by the bootstraps you can succeed in America. You need an education and a college one at that, which most can't afford. It is also sobering to read about the decline of the American workplace, and the abandonment of the worker by not only the cooperations but by the educational and legislative systems as well. (Please don't tell me we need more foreigh born high industry workers to come on visas to work in America, retrain the workers we have for those jobs!). American's wake up, write, email, tweet your legislators and let them know you are appalled about the state of the economy, the fact that many older workers and younger workers have been abandoned by the corporations and are being short changed for cheap labor from other countries. Rewrite the TAX CODE, make the corporations who ousource pay a tax that then goes into re-training programs for our citizens. Our economy won't recover or tax base won't recover until wages recover some of the dignity that used to come with being responsible earning a degree, going to work and having $$ to spend at the end of the week. With our homes lower in value then when we bought them, with pensions being cut and with the uncertainty about Medicare and Social Security (becasue legislator's raided them to pay for other things)this is a topical read for now and for the future. I would hope a call to action.

[Demo · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. Read only a selected few chapters. Brutal stuff.