The Deterioration of Families

            The novel The Working Poor by David Shipler gives many examples of different individuals who are stuck in the lower class. Chapter one explains about how there are many people not aware what W5’s are. It also explains that a lot of poor people pay someone to do their taxes so they do not have to worry about messing them up. In chapter two there were three ladies introduced. One of the ladies name was Caroline. She had four kids with two different men. Caroline did not have any teeth because she could not afford to go to the dentist and that just made it worse for her to find a job. It upset her that she did have an associate’s degree but it did not get her anywhere. In chapter three Shipler talks about illegal immigrants. They are getting jobs, but for little pay. They also cannot stand up for themselves because they live in fear that they will be deported. The main focus of chapter four is migrant workers. Migrant workers are crammed into cells that the farmers provide. Chapter five talks about addicts. Camellia was one of the people they focused on in this chapter. She dropped out of high school and got in the “street life.” Glenda found her a job but Camellia made up excuses not to go. Abuse is the focus of chapter six. It was said in this chapter that abuse may lead to early sexual involvement because they seek emotional closeness. One reoccurring theme in the book is the falling apart of families, it shows many different examples of the challenges they face in their day to day lives.

           Families living in poverty do not get to spend as much time together as they would if they were more economically stable. They are usually working many jobs in order to keep food on the table and pay rent. A good example of this is Nara and her husband. They moved to the United States from Korea and ever since the move they have become unhappy. Nara explains her unhappiness and says, “So my husband and I have lots of trouble-arguments. He has no days off…. In Korea, we never argued” (Shipler 92). It is a given that she regrets moving. Not being able to have quality time with each other made any time they actually did get to see each other turn into arguments. In many cases the frustration of not being together can lead to a divorce. Robert Frank from the article Income Inequality: Too Big to Ignore states “Divorce rates are another reliable indicator of financial distress, as marriage counselors report that a high proportion of couples they see are experiencing significant financial problems. The counties with the biggest increases in inequality also reported the largest increases in divorce rates” (Frank 582). On this rate they could be headed for a divorce since they are very financially distressed and are always arguing. If they were to both get one stable and good paying job the couple would most likely have a lot less problems.

          

Some families go to the extreme and may become abusive in a sexual way. Caroline lived along with her daughter. Her daughter still occasionally went to her dad’s house. One day when she got home from his house Caroline saw something shocking, “I noticed she was red, front to back. And this was not right” (Shipler 58). Her daughter had been sexually abused. Being poor can make you take things out on people. She was not allowed to see her dad again so she had to live the rest of her life without a father figure. This act of abuse really tore this family apart.

          Also, some people may start to settle for less when it comes to picking a partner. Christie is a good example of someone not picking the right partners. Shipler states that, “She was certain if the Housing Authority knew, she would be evicted, either because he was a convicted felon or because his earning power, meager though it was, would have lifted beyond eligibility” (Shipler 41-42). This partner is certainly not the best if she had to keep him hidden from the Housing Authority. Shipler also says, “She got nothing from her daughter’s father, who was serving a long prison sentence for assault” (Shipler 42). This means both of her partners were in prison and were not a good father figure to their kids. This really could tear a family apart because not having both parents can really upset a child. Also, just having one parent means that the child would probably not be able to see their parent often because he or she is most likely working many jobs, which can give a child more problems.

Lastly, families may have to be apart from each other in order to make a living. Many families in poverty have to make sacrifices in order to try and make a living. Claudio and his wife were one of them. Shipler explains the sacrifice they had to make, “After a month the young couple learned in a phone call to Mexico that their fourteen-month-old daughter was ill, they had left her with his parents” (Shipler 101). Having to be separated from family really tears them apart. Their baby has to live without her parents for who knows long; it could be years. She is so young that she could easily forget about them. That is tough on a child to have to go through life without his or her's parents and especially when her parents have to explain later down the road that they had left her.

Always working, abuse, wrong choices, and being apart all are factors that can cause a family to fall apart. Families need to make sure they are getting quality time with each other. They also should know to control their anger and not take it out on each other. They need to make sure they chose a good partner to share their life with. Lastly, they need to stay together, being apart will only cause more damage. By following those guidelines there will be less of a chance that families will deteriorate.

Works Cited

Frank, Robert H. "Income Inequality: Too Big to Ignore." The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing: They Say/I Say With Readings 2nd Ed. Gerald Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2012. 580-584. Print.

Shipler, David K. The Working Poor: Invisible in America. New York: Knopf, 2004. Print.