OLLI101435 - HOT OFF THE PRESS - Jobs Aren't Enough - Toward a New Economic Mobility for Low-Income Families

Course Description

Jobs Aren’t Enough
Toward a New Economic Mobility for Low-Income Families

Date/Time: October 21, 1-2 PM
Location: Online via Zoom  

This unflinching examination of the obstacles to economic mobility for low-income families exposes the ugly reality that lies beneath the shining surface of the American Dream. The fact is that nearly 25% of employed adults have difficulty supporting their families today. In eye-opening interviews, twenty-five workers and nearly a thousand people who are linked to them-children, teachers, job trainers, and employers-tell wrenching stories about “trying to get ahead.”

Spanning five cities, this study convincingly demonstrates that prevailing ideas about opportunity, merit and “bootstraps” are outdated. As the authors show, some workers who believe the myths end up destroying their health and families in the process of trying to “move up.”

Authors: Roberta Rehner Iversen and Annie Laurie Armstrong

Speaker: Roberta Rehner Iversen is Associate Professor in the School of Social Policy & Practice at the University of Pennsylvania.