Chutes and Ladders

Now that the welfare system has been largely dismantled, the fate of America's poor depends on what happens to them in the low-wage labor market. In this timely volume, Katherine S. Newman explores whether the poorest families benefited from the tight labor markets and good economy in the late 1990s. More than a story of the shifting fortunes of the labor market, "Chutes and Ladders" asks probing questions about the motivations of low-wage workers, the dreams they have, and their understanding of the rules of the game.