Notes

Americans often assume that the poor do not work. According to a 2016 survey conducted by the American
Enterprise Institute, nearly two-thirds of respondents did not think most poor people held a steady job; in reality,
that year a majority of nondisabled working-age adults were part of the labor force. Slightly over one-third of
respondents in the survey believed that most welfare recipients would prefer to stay on welfare rather than earn
a living. These sorts of assumptions about the poor are an American phenomenon. A 2013 study by the sociologist
Ofer Sharone found that unemployed workers in the United States blame themselves, while unemployed workers
in Israel blame the hiring system. When Americans see a homeless man cocooned in blankets, we often wonder
how he failed. When the French see the same man, they wonder how the state failed him.
If you believe that people are poor because they are not working, then the solution is not to make work pay but
to make the poor work — to force them to clock in somewhere, anywhere, and log as many hours as they can. But
consider Vanessa. Her story represents a larger problem: millions of Americans work with little hope of finding
security and comfort. In recent decades, America has witnessed the rise of bad jobs offering low pay, no benefits
and little certainty. When it comes to poverty, a willingness to work is not the problem, and work itself is no
longer the solution.Americans often assume that the poor do not work. According to a 2016 survey conducted by the American
Enterprise Institute, nearly two-thirds of respondents did not think most poor people held a steady job; in reality,
that year a majority of nondisabled working-age adults were part of the labor force. Slightly over one-third of
respondents in the survey believed that most welfare recipients would prefer to stay on welfare rather than earn
a living. These sorts of assumptions about the poor are an American phenomenon. A 2013 study by the sociologist
Ofer Sharone found that unemployed workers in the United States blame themselves, while unemployed workers
in Israel blame the hiring system. When Americans see a homeless man cocooned in blankets, we often wonder
how he failed. When the French see the same man, they wonder how the state failed him.
If you believe that people are poor because they are not working, then the solution is not to make work pay but
to make the poor work — to force them to clock in somewhere, anywhere, and log as many hours as they can. But
consider Vanessa. Her story represents a larger problem: millions of Americans work with little hope of finding
security and comfort. In recent decades, America has witnessed the rise of bad jobs offering low pay, no benefits
and little certainty. When it comes to poverty, a willingness to work is not the problem, and work itself is no
longer the solution.