or, some work two jobs just to pay the bills. Furthermore, Newman's demographic and field research demonstrates that America's largest group of impoverished citizens is not the unemployed, but the working poor, who receive little political attention or credit for their struggles.

Both traditional liberals and conservatives will find a great deal to take issue with in Newman's book. Liberals who defend the current welfare system may be angry at Newman's assertion that this overlooked segment of the working poor population unambiguously states that it finds dignity in earning a paycheck rather than a welfare check, and is relieved and that even low-paying jobs give order to desperate lives in desperate circumstances. Conservatives may be angry however, when Newman shows that hard work is not enough to pull one's self up by one's bootstraps and survive. Instead, Newman believes that some government intervention is necessary, such as extending more Earned...
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