Getting Me Cheap: How Low-Wage Work Traps Women and Girls in Poverty

by Amanda Freeman, Lisa Dodson

Two groundbreaking sociologists explore the way the American dream is built on the backs of working poor women Many Americans take comfort and convenience for granted. We eat at nice restaurants, order groceries online, and hire nannies to care for kids. Getting Me Cheap is a riveting portrait of the lives of the low-wage workers—primarily women—who make this lifestyle possible. Sociologists Lisa Dodson and Amanda Freeman follow women in the food, health care, home care, and other low-wage industries as they struggle to balance mothering with bad jobs and without public aid. While these women tend to the needs of well-off families, their own children frequently step into premature adult roles, providing care for siblings and aging family members. Based on years of in-depth field work and hundreds of eye-opening interviews, Getting Me Cheap explores how America traps millions of women and their children into lives of stunted opportunity and poverty in service of giving others of us the lives we seek. Destined to rank with works like Evicted and Nickle and Dimed for its revelatory glimpse into how our society functions behind the scenes, Getting Me Cheap also offers a way forward—with both policy solutions and a keen moral vision for organizing women across class lines.

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism, Finance, Sociology, Economics, Womens, Poverty

256 pages, Hardcover

First published November 15, 2022

Reviews

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

“They get me cheap.”

This is an interesting study conducted over years by the authors that really needs to be seen. Especially right now, post(ish)-COVID with people back at work and wages raised, which doesn’t mean much with inflation but I have found it interesting how desperately needed some of these formerly replaceable low-wage workers are.

It’s almost as if an essential part of the economy is to hold these workers down, then accuse them of being lazy or not pulling themselves up by the bootstraps. People also don’t want to look too closely at it because it gives them the sads.

This isn’t all new information exactly, aside from the frightening statistics which I’d never seen laid out before, but it’s presented in a way that’s easy to digest and with stories of real women living it along the way. It’s heartbreaking how hard these women and moms have worked only to be given roadblocks to every opportunity.

As someone who worked in these jobs, without children or dependents luckily, I know all too well how they use the cheap labor. I never had a paid sick day or decent insurance. They keep you right below full-time hours(or sometimes as part-time but working full-time hours) to avoid offering insurance. Then you get fines for not having it. It’s hard not to drown in the misery. I can’t imagine doing it with kids to worry about.

It’s heartbreaking and the story of Chevelle and Michele at the end was particularly moving. This is important information and I’d recommend it. I knew it was bad but after seeing these numbers, I’m again shocked by how we are still treating a large and important portion of our population.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the authors for the opportunity to read and review. Keep doing what you’re doing!

[Noorilhuda · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book / journal reads so much like the booklet some non-governmental agency provides prospective donors / investors for funds. The advice to consumers / employees / citizens given at the end of the book is appealing and inspiring but someone needs to write a better book or do a merited documentary for anyone to care more about blue collar workers stuck in low-wage, low benefits, low-advancement jobs when all of us are trying to make the best of whatever end of the stick we have. I do believe privileged existence courtesy accident of birth is nothing to gloat about, and that these male and female workers are modern slaves and are probably kept poor, illiterate and opportunity-less specifically to serve the cheap-salaried labor-needs of the rich and middle-class (including those in Pakistan). That being said, I found the whining by some of the female workers in this book nonsensical, and criticism by authors of good-natured state programs as illogical. I also did not see any self-recognition and evaluation of life choices made by the workers and their parents in exasperating their poverty.

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC.

[Rachel B · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I started out loving this book, but the second half was more frustrating.

The beginning accurately describes the duty girls feel to provide financially and especially domestically for their families, even at the expense of their own dreams/"betterment."

All of the struggles with government employees and paperwork, etc., to try and receive the benefits you need are completely true, as well. I have been treated like trash by the people whose job it is (supposedly) to help. And, yes, those individuals hold all the cards and there is no recourse if they decide they don't like you.

The title and subtitle mention "girls and women," and yet the book focused on single mothers, even though most of the problems they struggled with are the same for childless individuals. Low-wage jobs suck for everyone.

The last couple of chapters were a stretch, in my opinion. First, a couple people lament in the discussion on college readiness that they weren't taught what things like "office hours," "credit hours," "concentration," etc., were, and that they struggled to fit into campus life. Um… doesn't everyone struggle to fit in? This is not unique to poverty, even. And I wasn't taught any of those terms above, either, as a homeschooler who pretty much homeschooled myself through high school. I was the first and only one of my siblings to go to college (though I never finished). But the internet exists at public libraries and I used it for my research and questions. The people quoted just didn't seem to have any initiative or common sense when it came to college.

Then came the Covid chapter, and the authors clearly have different opinions from me… one woman they quoted claimed she was "risking her life" by being a cashier during the pandemic. How dramatic. Anyway, you'll either agree or disagree with everything in this particular chapter.

Which brings me to politics. The book is full of it. The authors are clearly very liberal - and play the blame game. The culprit is always whoever happens to be conservative. It's republican this, democrat that, and I wonder if the authors realize that not all Americans subscribe to the ideas of one of these two parties? Other parties do exist, many (like myself) don't belong to a political party at all, and there are people in poverty of any and all political persuasions.

I was frustrated with the ending, too. There is no hope given, no action points for readers who feel spurred to create change - no examples given, even, for how the system could improve if anyone in power cared to do something. So, everything about low-wage work sucks. Yes. Now what?

Note: There is some profanity.

I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

[Graeme Newell · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Getting Me Cheap" is a thought-provoking and insightful book that sheds light on the struggles faced by women and girls working in low-wage jobs. The author provides a comprehensive analysis of forces that keep women in bad jobs, then she goes on to offer tangible solutions for creating meaningful change.

One of the standout features of this book is the author's ability to connect the experiences of women and girls in low-wage work to larger social and economic forces. She shows how these jobs are often characterized by exploitation, discrimination, and a lack of basic labor protections. Through powerful anecdotes and compelling data, Mercado makes a convincing case for the urgent need to reform labor policies and protect the rights of low-wage workers.

One of the shortcomings of this book is its lack of nuance and depth. The author relies heavily on anecdotal evidence and personal stories, which while powerful, do not provide a robust understanding of the complex social and economic factors that contribute to poverty among women and girls. Furthermore, Mercado's proposed solutions, while well-intentioned, lack specificity and feasibility.

Another issue with "Getting Me Cheap" is the author's narrow focus on gender-based discrimination, which neglects other important factors that contribute to low-wage work and poverty, such as lack of access to education and training, and the impact of globalization on the labor market. This narrow focus limits the book's relevance and applicability to a broader audience.

Overall, "Getting Me Cheap" left me with a lot to think about. Mercado's writing is clear and engaging, and her ideas are both bold and practical. This book will really got me thinking about the special challenges women face in world of work.

[Richard Propes · Rating 5 out of 5]

It seemed appropriate that as I found myself arriving in the closing pages of Amanda Freeman and Lisa Dodson's enlightening "Getting Me Cheap: How Low Wage Work Traps Women and Girls in Poverty" that a tear would fall as I read one final story that drives home the absolute necessity of a book such as this one.

I approached "Getting Me Cheap" from multiple perspectives.

First, of course, as a reviewer approached by the publisher who had become aware of my reading patterns and correctly assumed that such a book would resonate me.

However, far beyond this most obvious reason I also possess both personal and professional reasons for my interest in this informative and engaging work.

As a paraplegic/double amputee with spina bifida, I grew up in a home where we always struggled financially largely because, quite honestly, of me. My parents were married less than a year I arrived and I'd dare say that at least some of their hopes and dreams got set aside because they now had a child with significant disabilities and little chance of survival.

My father was a lifelong carpenter. He most certainly provided. We had the necessities or at least it seemed to me that we did. We lived in a rough area, but we got by. My mother was the one who set her own aspirations aside because I was a child with a lot of medical appointments and a lot of support needs. If I had any doubt that she would have likely been the breadwinner, that was resolved when she was finally able to enter the workforce in my teens and did, in fact, become the breadwinner for a while.

I sometimes laugh, and cringe, when I share that it was only a couple years after I moved out (much to everyone's surprise) at age 17 that they finally gained enough financial stability to move into a better neighborhood.

When I moved out, I lived on a tiny SSI check of just over $400 monthly. After I failed at my first job, largely because no one expected me to survive so I had poor daily living skills, I was rushed onto disability and lived this way for several years. I survived, barely, managing to find subsidized housing but never qualifying for Medicaid or food related supports.

It wasn't until I did a fundraising event during which I traveled by wheelchair around the state of Indiana that I said to myself "I have more potential."

I tried. I failed. I tried. I failed. I tried. I failed. I failed a lot. I eventually found a small private college that focused on primarily Black adult learners and they embraced me.

I graduated. Summa Cum Laude. Who even knew I was smart?

Slowly, I built a life. I managed to learn the system and managed to become really good at navigating it. The day after graduation, I was employed in a hospital where I worked for 9 years. I've been in my current position with a government agency for nearly 16 years.

Somehow, with lots of failures along the way, I created a better life than I ever imagined and, yes, I'm still alive into my 50s. Now, I do what I can in my position to help others with disabilities move out of facility settings and into the community. It's not perfect, a point brought to life again and again in "Getting Me Cheap," but after 30+ years of activism and having intentionally chosen to work in the system that often wasn't there when I needed it I'm acutely aware that in order to really change lives the system has to fundamentally change.

The brilliance of "Getting Me Cheap" is that it's both magnificently researched and emotionally resonant. Freeman and Dodson, both sociologists, spent over a decade conducting in-depth field work and hundreds of eye-opening interviews to explore how America traps millions of women and their children into lives of stunted opportunity and poverty for the convenience of the affluent.

As I kept reading page after page of "Getting Me Cheap," I was struck time and again by the insight, intelligence, wisdom, and compassion of so many of these women whose lives had presented circumstances trapping them into lives far outside their amazing potential. As nearly anyone who has ever been in the system will tell you, myself included, once you're in it it's nearly impossible to escape. I mean, I remember making so many mistakes early on when I was trying to transition from disability to the competitive workforce that to this day I'm paying back a Social Security overpayment. It's just so disheartening.

I found myself not only aching for these women and children, however, but also examining my own life personally and professionally. What am I doing that helps? What am I doing that hurts?

I was convicted of my own behavior in more ways than one and throughout "Getting Me Cheap" I found myself contemplating how I could make sure my own actions contribute to a solution rather than perpetuating the problem.

But again, it still comes down to the system's need for revolutionary transformation.

I also reflected upon my own experiences struggling to get my needs met. It's well known, for example, that people with disabilities have some of the highest rates of abuse and sexual assault (men included). When you create an exploitative system, people get exploited. I often joke, though it's not a joke, that I've been sexually assaulted more than I've been loved. During those transitional years when I was moving from disability to "work," I was especially vulnerable and to naive to protect myself effectively. So, this exploitation becomes cyclical and it ripples.

A book like "Getting Me Cheap" should, in fact, make you think beyond the stories being told. It should also make you think about your own life, circumstances, and experiences. I thought of the home health aides I've had who've brought their kids with them. I thought of some of the remarkable home health aides I've had who were likely doing remarkable work for very little pay and likely no benefits. I convicted myself for always seeking out the lowest amount I could pay rather than trying to balance my fiscal limits with being fair to those providing support.

I thought. I thought a lot.

Freeman and Dodson have crafted a thoroughly researched discussion with story after story to illustrate the issues from a variety of angles. They provide both policy solutions and a clear moral vision for organizing women across class lines. "Getting Me Cheap" isn't falsely optimistic - there's little denying that this reality is harrowing and there's no compromising that truth. However, I also felt a sense of hope because of the relentless determination and persistence of these women and their fierce dedication to their families, themselves, and toward a better future. There's something resembling hope here, though it's a hard-fought hope that will require commitment, hard work, and a kind of unity that seems rather distant these days.

For those dedicated to social justice, "Getting Me Cheap" is a must read. However, it truly goes even further than that. "Getting Me Cheap" is a necessary read for women who've felt alone in the struggle, for those (myself included) who work in the system and are genuinely trying, for those who carry shame over struggling to survive and can't even fathom thriving, and I'd dare say for anyone who calls themselves a community leader or politician.

While a research heavy book may sound intimidating, Freeman and Dodson do a stellar job of creating an expertly written book that is accessible, relatable, and nearly impossible to put down once you start reading.

[Galia Gichon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book that is a must read! The authors have done a tremendous job researching and writing about a topic we all need to learn more about.

[Rachel Bowen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Getting Me Cheap exposes the brutal inequities that poor women and girls -- and especially poor single mothers -- have to navigate. The authors, both sociologists, thread together the stories of hundreds of women they spoke with either in individual interviews or group conversations, connecting those stories to statistics and other sources that demonstrate the pervasiveness of these issues. In every chapter, we read about another type of challenge, most damningly (in my view) the strict restrictions on aid programs that hold women back instead of supporting them in getting ahead.

If there is one overarching failure called out in the book, it is the lack of good, affordable child care. Over and over again, we see women try to get ahead only to miss work or school because of a child's needs, often losing wages, employment, or aid as a result. Heartbreaking and infuriating.

This book is written with comfortable women in mind, calling on middle class and upper class women to take on fights for the rights and wellbeing of poor women -- who are often doing the essential labor that makes life comfortable, such as cooking at McDonald's, packaging Amazon orders, and caring for children. I appreciate that focus (and I resemble it), but I feel like employers and comfortable men are let off too easy as a result. Of course, plenty has already been written about how employers take advantage of low wage workers. I hope the readers of this book will take it as a serious call to action.

[Becky Deal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can you take a star away if a book is very depressing? Probably not, if that is just the way it is. This book is full of anecdotes of women always putting their family ahead of their needs, be it an education, a job that provides a living wage or any self fulfillment that may come with having the luxury of knowing what your dreams are, much less working towards them.
Through their studies of poor women struggling to help provide, first for their original families then their own children, these two professors lay the groundwork for examining how "keeping families intact is the essential work of women and girls" (p. 184). They continually saw a common theme of "daily needs and chronic disruption in working poor families call up gendered demands that many girls feel they must meet" (p. 184). References from the women, on why and how they most often picked up the slack, included "racial identity, immigration experiences, kin networks, and culture" (p.78).
The one solution that they offered that I could discern was that the more affluent women who hired these women (at low pay scales and with no benefits) should step up to the plate to advocate and fight for these women for more equitable wages/benefits and safe and affordable childcare (at least for starters).
What I feel should have at least been mentioned (and why I gave 4 stars), not that it would have benefitted these women, was support and education while girls are still in school. Not necessarily strict birth control information, but at least cover the options/benefits of postponing childbearing until one is at the level of maturity to understand the potential losses, educationally, financially, and emotionally that early childbearing can bring.
I feel that this is important since so often the women interviewed, always put as their main concern, providing child care. This lack of availability is what kept them from getting necessary education and keeping the jobs with the better salaries.
This would be an excellent book for book club discussion, after copies are sent to the local school board and your elected officials.

[Randall Russell · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I understand that there are many women who are trapped in low-wage jobs, especially women who are single moms, there were a couple of things that really frustrated me about this book. It does primarily focus on single mothers, so right away, the question I kept asking myself over and over is, "Where are the men?" There is not one ocassion in the whole book where the authors ever ask any of these women, "So, what happened to the guy who got you pregnant?" Why does the system allow these women to be stuck trying to raise children on their own? Don't we have laws pertaining to child support? Since men are responsible for impregnating women (except for medical interventions), then they should be held responsible for the resulting child or children. The other question that kept bugging me, is how these women wound up in these situations. If you're young, maybe you've dropped out of high school, and you're working a low-wage job at let's say McDonalds, why in the world would you think it's a good idea to get pregnant, and then have the child? What do you think is going to happen? How can one think that the situation is going to turn out well? So to me, I think there should have been more emphasis on preventing these types of situations from occurring, not just focusing on the terrible consequences when they do occur. Which brings me to another frustration - the authors merely describe the difficulties of the current system, without providing any suggestions for how to make it better. So, overall, while I think this is an interesting book about a very important topic, to me it really seemed to miss the mark. I've read some other books on the same subject that I think were much better.

[Starre Vartan · Rating 5 out of 5]

We all depend on the work that is done by the women in this book. The jobs that these women hold keep our worlds running and dependable—yet this work isn't valued in the way our culture shows value, by being paid well. So despite doing jobs that are necessary, useful, and maintain the conveniences many of us would say we need and appreciate, they often don't even pay a living wage for the woman working (let alone for dependents like children, sick or elderly relatives). On top of all that, assumptions are made about who does these low-paying jobs, and they are often negative, painting those who do this work in stereotypical ways. Freeman and Dodson set out to break both the myths about the level of work and expertise needed to do the jobs that are often labelled as "unskilled," how far a low wage really goes, and why it is that it's so often women who end up doing this work. They do this by showing us these workers as the human beings they are, and putting the reader in their shoes. I kept thinking "could I make this work?" or "could I deal with that?" when I read a new woman's story. The answer was usually no. By putting us in the perspective of these women we learn about how they make it work, or don't, and what the real obstacles are in the way of moving up and out of poverty.

[Natalie Park · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Net Galley and The New Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. It is hard enough to make ends meet but when you're a single mother our imperfect welfare system further magnifies the injustices when you're a woman, of color, single and with children. There are so many obstacles and injustices that this part of population face especially as they are the communities of gender and race that have been historically and generationally been kept back from gaining wealth and status within society. Even if one does qualify for welfare benefits, there are very strict and unfair rules around how much money one can make (very little) and, if one was to make just a bit more money a month say $25, you'd lose your childcare, housing and other other benefits that may equal several hundred dollars. Our system doesn't help people get to a place of getting the education or skills to get that next better paying job but keeps them in the lowest paying jobs and constant struggle. Not only does it affect them but also affects their children. This quick read is filled with statistics, first hand interviews and clearly points out how our society uses these workers, keeps their wages low and the stigma we place on these women creating a nearly hopeless situation. Very informative if you want to know more about this subject.

[Lara Cowell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Non-fiction book Getting Me Cheap: How Low-Wage Work Traps Women and Girls in Poverty, co-written by Amanda Freeman and Lisa Dodson, explores the socioeconomic and wage disparity between men and women, in particular, highlighting how the intersectional confluence of gender, race, and immigrant status disproportionately affect Black, Latinx, and immigrant workers, an issue further exacerbated by the hardships of the COVID-19 pandemic. Freeman and Dodson cite a 2019 Brookings Institution report on the low-wage workforce, comprising approximately 53 million Americans who are earning $10.22 an hour on average: poverty incomes. While low-income occupations, like cleaning, food service, childcare, eldercare, and home-health assistance help provide the infrastructure that enable the affluent to juggle and balance their professional and personal/familial lives, ironically, the workers filling those jobs struggle to support their own families. The book represents the findings garnered from a decadeʻs worth of research and 250 interviews, and Freeman and Dodson provide moving, highly readable profiles and first-hand case studies and accounts of real women working in low-wage occupations, many of whom provided care and other uncompensated labor for their families from a young age.

[Susan Kurth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm almost finished with this book and I'm a bit conflicted. Although it is interesting, it's not on a par with great books such as "$2 a Day" or "The Working Poor." I can only read it for short periods of time because it is very upsetting to me that a) so many of these low-wage earning women were basically enslaved by their parents to either raise younger siblings or help with old folks or assist their moms at work, thus depriving them of any real childhood, and b) ALL of these women seem to see no problem with having MULTIPLE children despite being single and destitute! Condoms are cheaper than children and no one has the right to condemn someone else to a horrible childhood. I grew up poor and it was very, very hard. I personally believe that you (male or female) should not have children unless you can support them comfortably. I will finish the book but I can't recommend it.

[Jen Juenke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deep breath in.....this book is all about working poor mothers, trying to make ends meet with work, school, kids, childcare, other care, etc.
At points it was hard to read how unfair the system, employment were to the women.
At other points, I wanted to shake my fist at the system at how unfair their situation was, and they knew it.
I hate that in America mothers MUST choose between their children and work or family obligations.
Women, especially women of color, are often poor, and paid less for the work that they do. They often have no benefits and are living paycheck to paycheck.
We must have a better way to do things. IT can be possible but it will take all women working together.

Thank you to Netgalley and to the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for this honest review.

[LaShanda Chamberlain · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this country, we constantly hear about upward mobility or social mobility. But who actually benefits from this economic gain & on to a better life? In Getting Me Cheap, researchers Amanda Freeman & Lisa Dobson examines the long wages of woman and girls living in poverty in the United States. In their research, Freeman & Dobson shows how the system has failed these women and girls. In addition to the everyday struggles of many systems, they also explored the impact of COVID & how the pandemic affected these populations. America, we're better than this & we must do better by our own.

A special thanks to Amanda Freeman, Lisa Dobson, The New Press & NetGalley for this advance copy.

[Sara Loves to Read]

The average annual income for fast-food workers is $13,500.
Most moms interviewed were making less than $25,000.
About 70% of adults receiving Medicaid and SNAP work full time.
Low-wage workers usually have no benefits, paid sick leave, maternity leave, personal/vacation time, have unpredictable schedules making childcare a nightmare, have to keep incomes below cutoff for govt benefits but work enough hours to be eligible.
Childcare makes a huge difference to a mom’s ability to work and is often unaffordable and unavailable even w vouchers.
Same for completing a college degree.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are a lot of obvious content warnings that could be noted about this book: poverty, extreme living circumstances, domestic violence, addiction... and many others. The one that caught me by surprise and left me in tears was the deeply personal and moving description of end of life care in the epilogue. It's my own hang up and doesn't reflect my opinions on the book. But, I do think it's worth mentioning in case anyone else is actively dealing with grief.

Content warnings aside: It's worth reading. Especially if you need a reminder to check your privilege.

[Maria Steele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Painfully sad but true. I experienced much of this as a single working mother of 3. I was only able to work minimum wage jobs to have flexibility. Even when I worked my way up to be a multi-dept manager, I was only making $17/hr (this was 3 years ago)
Things are only going to get worse with Project 2025. Forced birth and less or no government assistance with childcare, food and housing, will push even more women and children into deep desperate poverty.
It will be a sad sad reality moving forward. God help us (poor people that is, the rich will be just fine)

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was obviously so difficult to listen to. The authors did a wonderful job researching and interviewing all their subjects. So much of our society is broken, from wage inequality, programs that seem to "help" but yet many fall through the cracks, miseducation, broken homes, etc.
I learned a lot and hope to be able to put some of this new knowledge to use. Loved the idea at the end, instead of "hosting" an exchange student, why don't you support a local single Mom. Brilliant.

[Lauren Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book feels like a must-read for anyone interested in women’s rights, equality, and justice in the USA. It is a fascinating combination of the re-telling of first-hand accounts navigating working class womanhood in America and a sociological report on the topic. It doesn’t read like dry nonfiction, though it is well-researched and cites many scientific studies.

[Jill Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This eye-opening book should be required reading for all Americans. The plights of the women in this book are very familiar to many, yet virtually unimaginable to others. Our country is in dire need of reforms, especially in the area of child care.

[Pgile5 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful but tragic book. I believe that this should be required reading for all middle and high school students. So very sad, but so very true. We need to end this cycle!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

The american family is untenable with capitalism; families, especially children always lose.

[Sadie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! Opened my eyes to how low wages trap women in poverty. Love it!

[C · Rating 2 out of 5]

A dull largely first-person quoted account of mostly low-wage female workers of color with children without much insight or useful information for anyone who grew up with it.

[Katie ratherbereadinggg · Rating 4 out of 5]

4-4.5 stars

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is depressing, saddening, sickening, and true.

[Avery · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential reading, especially post Pandemic

[Emma Kerr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic work - pairs really nicely with “Poverty by America” by Mathew Desmond.