The Underclass

by Ken Auletta

Auletta began with a seemingly simple goal - to find out who, exactly, make up the poorest of the poor, and to trace the many paths that took them there. As he follows 250 harden members of the underclass, Auletta focuses on efforts to help them reconstruct their lives and find a functional place in mainstream society. Through the lives of the men and women he encounters, Auletta discovers the complex truths that have made hard-core poverty in America such an intractable problem.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics

348 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Ken Auletta has written Annals of Communications columns and profiles for The New Yorker magazine since 1992. He is the author of eleven books, including five national bestsellers: Three Blind Mice: How the TV Networks Lost Their Way; Greed And Glory On Wall Street: The Fall of The House of Lehman; The Highwaymen: Warriors of the Information Super Highway; World War 3.0: Microsoft and Its Enemies; and Googled, The End of the World As We Know It, which was published in November of 2009.

Auletta has won numerous journalism honors. He has been chosen a Literary Lion by the New York Public Library, and one of the 20th Century's top 100 business journalists by a distinguished national panel of peers.

For two decades Auletta has been a national judge of the Livingston Awards for journalists under thirty-five. He has been a Trustee and member of the Executive Committee of the Public Theatre/New York Shakespeare Festival. He was a member of the Columbia Journalism School Task Force assembled by incoming college President Lee Bollinger to help reshape the curriculum. He has served as a Pulitzer Prize juror and a Trustee of the Nightingale-Bamford School. He was twice a Trustee of PEN, the international writers organization. He is a member of the New York Public Library's Emergency Committee for the Research Libraries, of the Author's Guild, PEN, and of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Auletta grew up on Coney Island in Brooklyn, where he attended public schools. He graduated with a B.S. from the State University College at Oswego, N.Y., and received an M.A. in political science from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.

Reviews

[Cathy Hasty · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book takes one into the 'weeds' of poverty through telling the stories of an anti-poverty program developed by the Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation; MDRC. This program continues to work "finding solutions to some of the most difficult problems facing the nation — from reducing poverty and bolstering economic self-sufficiency to improving public education and college graduation rates." http://www.mdrc.org/about/about-mdrc-...

The book takes you through one class of 26 people in a supported work program at the Wildcat Skills Training Center in Manhattan climb. They were identified by a class called Basic Typing-27 or BT-27. The writer, a reporter, attended the class with them for7 months with a visible tape recorder. He documented their experiences, both in and after the course. Also he interviewed about 250 other members of the underclass. He proposed that the underclass can be roughly divided into four categories: The passive poor, trapped on welfare, the hostile poor, the hustlers, and the traumatized; he acknowledges that these categories cannot capture the complexity of this population. out of or the fall further down the chute of poverty. Updated in 1992, with references to his reflections in 1998, Auletta says that he is not liberal or conservative: "I harbor a liberal's faith in the carrot and a conservative's faith in the stick." WHAT he does believe in is worth reading: " I do believe in making concerted efforts to assist the underclass. I believe some members of the underclass are victims of forces beyond their control, but I also believe that if you empower people to declare themselves helpless they will often act like victims. I came to believe members of the under class could not succeed without practicing self-help, but I also believe they usually need a helping hand." He goes on to document through concrete stories of both success and failure. THIS is worth reading and discussing along with the books on Toxic Charity.

[Kimberly Nicholas]

Robert Rubin in NYT:

“What book has had the greatest impact on you?

That’s easy. “The Underclass,” by Ken Auletta. It follows a nonprofit organization as it attempts to improve the lives of some of New York’s lowest-income residents, and when I read it in 1982, it completely changed the way I think about poverty in America.

This was during the Reagan years, when the notion was that Americans could simply “pull themselves up by their bootstraps.” But Ken’s argument — which I found very persuasive — is that poverty is a vicious cycle, replicated over generations, and that being trapped in that cycle is far more the result of society’s failings than of the individuals’. “The Underclass” led me to believe that trying to break the cycle of poverty through policy and through private efforts is not just right for moral reasons, but is enormously in the interest of all of us, both because of the economic impact of lifting people out of poverty, and because of poverty’s negative effects on social cohesion.”

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Statistics Heavy

I am usually a great believer in this type of book in the author who has clearly done enough research on his topic. To be sure, Ken Auletta has done a great deal of research on poverty and the issues that contribute to it with a focus on supportive employment and welfare.
I very rarely feel this way about a nonfiction book but I found this book, if I am honest, rather boring! I feel it would have been better if there had been more of a balance between statistical information and personal stories of those that were part of the Wildcats supportive employment program! It's one thing to read about their experiences in a controlled environment such as a classroom where there is a system (yet another one) they must operate within in order to receive a meager weekly paycheck. Or likewise face consequences if they don't graduate from the program. But what about REAL life outside the classroom? When they are home rushing to scratch together a meal for their 4 or 5 kids and everyone's needing attention, cranky, hungry and tired? How does the person react to and address stress? Is there discipline in the home and is it balanced with love and expectations for behavior? Are values taught and traditions made and celebrated? I think some if not all of these things give kids a sense of belonging and security which in the long run can be helpful in avoiding a life of crime, or even passivity. I think these things can help a child to WANT to work hard to please mom and/or dad which just might help him or her avoid poverty and have the self esteem to HAVE dreams and goals they work towards!
I wouldn't read this book again but I gave it 3 stars for the efforts to understand, and the research, work and time invested. I will say a lot of the data is now likely outdated. The hourly and weekly wages as well as the monthly welfare amounts wouldn't entice anyone but the most destitute given the cost of living today.

[Karah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Auletta treats the people humanely and still directs attention to the major details: government policy, personal responsibility, and societal responsibility. From my perspective, there will often be something which can interrupt personal income. I can deliver an effective response to a problem. The importance of preventive measures resounds in my daily life. I see a small irk and crush it before it becomes an enormous dilemma. I have been granted this depth of vision. Many people have not been taught to recognize when something needs repair. I grew up with watchdog surveillance. One result of my upbringing stands in my capacity to recognize shortcomings. Often, forgiving myself and others proves difficult. Recognizing shortcomings in one's self correlates to personal responsibility. People who disregard their capacity for mistakes will assign blame to others and wash their hands of culpability.

The NYC participants fared better than the Appalachian participants. The energy of NYC spurred many people to get employed. NYC provides its residents with free entertainment. (Even just walking down the street.) The slow life of Appalachia and Mississippi dulled many people. Even if they had worked, the Southerners would still have suffered with nothing to do.

This book confirmed my belief that opportunities flow mightily in metropolises.

Kudos, Ken Auletta!!!

Kudos, Robert Rubin, for mentioning this book in your profile in the By the Book column of the New York Times!!!

[Edward Champion · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ken Auletta is a very good reporter, particularly when he simply allows his subjects to speak their minds and removes himself from the story. This volume is a notable leap forward from THE STREETS WERE PAVED WITH GOLD and it works best when Auletta simply listens and chronicles the lives of the underclass through a Manpower center in which they are trying to learn job skills and escape their poverty. I wouldn't put this on the level of James Agee or Vollmann, particularly given the way that Auletta frames their stories against such dubious volumes as THE UNHEAVENLY CITY and THE BELL CURVE (thereby committing a Moniynan Report-like blunder of being detached, this when Auletta already proves that he is very much a GROUND LEVEL reporter). But it is a solid work of journalism. The revised version in 1999 is better, although both editions are actually quite interesting in revealing what sentiments were towards the poor in the late 1970s and early 1980s. (Spoiler alert: American empathy towards the underprivileged have become a lot worse!)

[Jessaka · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book on poverty that I have ever read. After reading this book you may not judge those on welfare ever again but then again it depends on who you are and how you feel about welfare in the 1st place if you can change your mind


I am not sure how old this book is nor am I sure if the welfare office still continues to give classes to those who Are in their system. The class is given were to help Those on welfare to go out and find jobs. It gave them skills, even skills to be able to do the job interview. But many of the people on welfare were abused in their childhood and have no motivation. They fear doing job interviews. And may have low opinions of themselves.1⁄3 of these people did not show up for the classes. Very few made it through the classes and were able to get jobs. I am not sure if there are any real answers to getting people the help they need in order for them to find jobs. Still this was a great book.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a very well written book but it put me right in to a depression!

Don't know where I heard about this book but it was on my list. Was written in 1982, updated in 1996. So it was a hoot, therefore, to see the wage amounts discussed - what a time machine!

But the underlying reasons for the underclass probably haven't changed and I bet the percentages of problematic demographics have only gotten worse - even since the update.

Interesting reading, but have an alcoholic beverage near you while reading!

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughtful book about a taboo issue.

Reading it 40+ years after its publication is interesting because proponents of the two dueling “explanations” it traces have grown so much more entrenched, more oppositional, and more shrill since the 1980s.