ABSTRACT
At the beginning of June 1998, the author left behind everything that normally soothes the ego and sustains the body—home, career, companion, reputation, ATM card—for a plunge into the low-wage workforce. How former welfare recipients and single mothers will (and do) survive in the low-wage workforce, the author cannot imagine. Maybe they will figure out how to condense their lives—including child-raising, laundry, romance, and meals—into the couple of hours between full-time jobs. Maybe they will take up residence in their vehicles, if they have one. All the author knows is that couldn't hold two jobs and couldn't make enough money to live on with one. And the author had advantages unthinkable to many of the long-term poor—health, stamina, a working car, and no children to care for and support. The thinking behind welfare reform was that even the humblest jobs are morally uplifting and psychologically buoying. In reality, they are likely to be fraught with insult and stress.
