ABSTRACT
Historically the working poor have often faced the scourge of poverty, forcing many nineteenth-century low-skilled workers to travel for work, sometimes ending up digging canals for a dollar a day in swamps that ruined their health. Difficult conditions persist, with the working poor often lacking the skills to advance themselves and finding their activities stressful, notably in jobs involving electronic monitoring. COVID-19 produced both massive layoffs and frontline exposure for many working-poor members, who are disproportionately people of color.
Two dozen experimental studies with job applicants have indicated that whites received considerably more callbacks than Blacks. While candidates of color have developed tactics for reducing such discrimination, racial minorities continue to be underrepresented in many high-level positions, such as STEM jobs. An effective means of curtailing racial bias in hiring is to list jobs publicly, avoiding the common practice of using only personal, racially homogenous social networks. Once hired, though, people of color can face severe challenges.
On the job women are underrepresented at all levels in most businesses. In addition, gender discrimination, particularly for Black women and LGBT workers, sexual harassment, and women alone on the job pose widespread, persistent struggles.
