$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America

H. Luke Shaefer is a professor of social work and public policy at the University of Michigan who has spent his career studying poverty in the United States, including research pertaining to the social safety net and low-wage work. He is a leading expert on the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), which provides as full of a picture as possible concerning the total income of American households. Shaefer analyzed SIPP data to find out whether $2-a-day poverty has been rising in the United States, and his findings agreed with Edin’s observations on the ground.

The book opens with a detailed description of Susan’s home, giving readers their first peek into the living conditions of the $2-a-day poor. The authors continue to provide glimpses into Susan’s life throughout the first three chapters, including her repeated failures to find work. She has become hopeless and anxious about applying for jobs, fearing it will end in yet another rejection each time. The stories about her life show the emotional wear of being destitute.

Modonna’s story, which features primarily in Chapter 1, shows how quickly a person’s life can spiral into extreme poverty. If the $10 from her till had never been misplaced, she might still be working as a cashier. She might have never lost her apartment. She might have never needed to trade sex to get her bills paid. This shows the importance of having a cash safety net available to people like Modonna—something that they can get quickly in an emergency. If she had been able to get some cash assistance, then maybe she could have kept her apartment. Living in a familiar and stable environment could have put her in a position to find another job sooner rather than later. But because there was nothing to catch Modonna as she fell, it is more difficult for her to climb back up.

Chapters 2 through 4 introduce us to Jennifer and her two children. Her experiences show how people in $2-a-day poverty are forced to compromise their own well-being and that of their family. When Jennifer was desperately looking for work to get her family out of the homeless shelter, the only job she could find was one with unsafe working conditions that made her ill. She has been forced to double up with relatives several times, which in one instance left her daughter vulnerable to sexual assault. Living in poverty can also force people to compromise their own morals. Jennifer is embarrassed that she has resorted to illegally selling her SNAP benefits to buy clothing for her children, but she does it when it is the only option available to her.

In Chapters 2 and 3 the authors show how Rae’s countless traumatic experiences have shaped her life. She has suffered from abandonment, rape, and physical assault, among other traumatic experiences that have had lasting effects on her emotional well-being. Her life is always chaotic, and she suffers from numerous physical ailments at the young age of 25. Since her father died when she was 11 years old, there has been no stability in her life. By telling her story, the authors show how people living in poverty are more vulnerable to experiencing traumatic events. This trauma then makes it all the more difficult for them to pull themselves out of poverty, giving them even more hurdles to overcome.

The $2-a-day poor need to earn cash somehow, and in the absence of a job they use whatever methods they can. As recounted in Chapter 4, Jessica sells plasma multiple times per week to provide some cash for her family. She feels exhausted after each procedure, and her arm is scarred after doing it so many times. Her story shows that the poor must resort to harming their own health to survive.

Like Jessica, Paul uses whatever strategies he can to survive and provide for his very large family. In the second half of Chapter 4 Paul is shown driving around to food pantries, collecting scrap metal, gathering water from a friend’s house, repairing his deteriorating house and car, and doing anything else he can to scrape by. He has been officially unemployed for years, which normally carries connotations of laziness. Paul shows that this is not always the case. He may not work a normal job, but he works hard for his family.

Martha and her family are introduced in Chapter 5. Like many other families, Martha has to earn cash outside of the formal economy. Unlike other families, there is a feeling of contentment and stability in her home. One of the main differences between her family and other $2-a-day households is that Martha receives a Section 8 voucher. She never has to put more than 30% of her income toward rent, and she doesn’t have to worry about losing her home. Her story shows that housing security can go a long way toward ensuring a family’s well-being.