Could you live on $2 a day? According to a new book, 1.5 million households and 3 million children face that reality.
Kathreyn Edin and Luke Shaefer's book, $2 A Day, explores who these people are, how they live, and why they experience such extreme poverty. Shaefer and Edin partially blame welfare reform and unstable jobs. Americans living on $2 a day must make due with unreliable work hours, unsafe working conditions, low wages, and very limited assistance.
Most concerningly, this problem has only increased. While 4% of American households with children lived in extreme poverty in 2011, only 1.7% of families experienced these challenges in 1996.
Will these percentages continue to rise? What needs to happen to prevent that increase?
Guest:
- Luke Shaefer: co-author of $2 A Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America