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On the State of Neighboring

The consequences of Americaā€™s fraying social fabric in one conversation

A Report from Ohio

Weā€™ve spent the past decade living in a working-class town in southwestern Ohio, initially on a short-term research project and then settling in as citizens, neighbors, and friendsā€”so that is Read more…

Unemployment and the Labors of Love

As I was reading sociologist Sarah Damaskeā€™s new book, The Tolls of Uncertainty: How Privilege and the Guilt Gap Shape Unemployment in America, I was struck by a realization: though Iā€™ve spent a good deal of the past 11 years interviewing working-class young adults in Ohio, I have met relatively few who have received unemployment insurance (UI).

Honoring Motherhood with Paid Leave

Since Abigail Tuckerā€™s book, Mom Genes: Inside the New Science of Our Ancient Maternal Instinct, was released a few days ago, Iā€™ve been listening to the audiobook whenever I get Read more…

Should a Child Benefit Be Based on Marital and Employment Status?

Thereā€™s something weird, and maybe even wrong, about a policy that seeks to support families, but leaves out families who have the least support and are the most disconnected from the helpful institutions of work and marriage.

Single Mothersā€™ Attitudes About Work and Motherhood

Gina, a single mother of three in southwestern Ohio, recently told me that being a mom saved her from despair and addiction. ā€œItā€™s my life. Itā€™s everything to me. Itā€™s Read more…

Is A Child Allowance Pro-Work for Poor Parents?

An injection of cash to poor families might be less of a handout and more of a hand up, acting as much-needed capital for families by allowing them to afford the things necessary to stay employed.

GameStop Populism

In our populist moment, the categories of left and right are losing their currency. Underlying recent eventsā€”the Capitol riot of Jan 6 (a populist political uprising) and the GameStop saga (ā€œthe first populist uprising in financeā€)ā€”is the belief that the system is rotten. Itā€™s a belief shared by populists on both sides, even as party labels are becoming less meaningful for many working people who see reality as primarily shaped by the interests of a powerful, wealthy, global elite vs. the needs of ordinary people.

In Whom We Trust

We watched the Inauguration on a laptop at our kitchen table while two toddlers nibbled chicken quesadillas and the baby fussed intermittently.

Industrial Policy Must Account for Worker Attitudes

n a recent post about the relationship between family trends and the skills gap I noted that for some of the young adults my husband David and I interviewed in southwestern Ohio, trauma and addiction make it difficult to take advantage of the employment opportunities that do exist.

Family Trauma and the Skills Gap

In a recent conversation hosted by American Compass, ā€œWhat Next: A Multi-Ethnic, Working-Class Conservatism,ā€ Ohio Congressman Anthony Gonzalez discussed the skills gap. ā€œ[T]he number one issue that I hear from employers is, I have jobs, I could hire 10 people tomorrow, but either the folks donā€™t want to do the work that we have, or I just canā€™t find the right people.ā€

Conservative Feminism and Market Fundamentalism

In the weeks leading up to Amy Coney Barrettā€™s confirmation as Supreme Court Justice, much was written about the new conservative feminism that Barrett arguably embodies. But as Ross Douthat asked in his column at The New York Times, ā€œcan there be a conservative feminism thatā€™s distinctive, coherent and influential, at least beyond quirky religious subcultures like the faculty at the University of Notre Dame?ā€

Tales of Bureaucratic Incompetence and the Sins of the Left and Right

After working as a manager at Chick-Fil-A for four years, Elizabeth Nowowiejski, a married mother of two living in Toledo, began a new job as a patient coordinator at a Read more…

Workers Are People, Not Widgets: An Epilogue

Earlier this month my husband David and I wrote about Alex, a worker at an Ohio-based unionized factory, and the way the union saved his job after conflict with a supervisor.

Is A College Degree the Only Way to Succeed?

During his growing up years, Mark, an underemployed contract laborer in his 30s, often heard his mother describe their town as ā€œthe devilā€™s thumbprint.ā€ The name alluded to both its literal location in a valley and its social stigma as the watering hole of riffraff. ā€œYou gotta go up the hill and get out,ā€ Mark said of the place and his aspirations.

Workers Are People, Not Widgets

Meet Alex and Lance, two blue-collar workers in southwestern Ohio. One had union representation as he sought a foothold in the labor market; the other did not. Their lives remind us that there is still power in a union.

Womenā€™s Work Preferences are Diverse

In less than 24 hours I will be wheeling my bag through the large revolving doors of the hospital, through the Covid screening point, and up the elevator to the ninth floor to deliver my fifth child due to a medically-necessary induction.

Another Way 2020 Feels Like 1968

Earlier this month I visited the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, located at the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King Jr. often stayed and where on April 4, 1968 he was assassinated while standing on the outside balcony, chatting with colleagues and getting ready for dinner.

A Trailer in the Country: Working-Class Attitudes About Redistribution

At the beginning of a lane of public housing units pink balloons mark the mailbox and a disposable tablecloth flutters in the wind, held down on a plastic table by a box of sprinkled cupcakes with high-topped icing and another box of assorted party favors.

Is Hamilton a ā€œBootstrapsā€ Story?

As we tend to do with momentous occasions, I clearly remember where I was and what I was doing when I heard the first lines of Lin-Manuel Mirandaā€™s Hamilton. It Read more…

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