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Sto caricando le informazioni... Hard Work: Life in Low-Pay Britian (2003)di Polly Toynbee
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Iscriviti per consentire a LibraryThing di scoprire se ti piacerà questo libro. Attualmente non vi sono conversazioni su questo libro. I knew before reading this that the gap between the rich and poor has widened considerably in the UK since the 1970s, but Toynbee really gets across the degree to which the poor have been left behind as the country got wealthier. A persuasive and convincing book; if only we had enough of a social conscience to drive change and become as equitable as Sweden or Norway. nessuna recensione | aggiungi una recensione
Guardian journalist Polly Toynbee took up the challenge of trying to survive on the minimum wage- living in one of the worst council estates in Britain and taking whatever was on offer at the job centre. What she discovered shocked her. In telesales and cake factories, as a hospital porter or a dinner-lady, she worked at a breakneck pace for cut-rate wages, alongside working mothers and struggling retirees. The service sector is now administered by seedy agencies offering no prospects, no screening and no commitment. And perhaps most damning of all, Toynbee found that, despite the optimism of Tony Blair's New Deal, the poorly paid effectively earn less than they did thirty years ago. Britain has the lowest social spending and the highest poverty in Europe. As the income gap between top and bottom has widened, social mobility has shuddered to a halt. Is this the end of social progress? In this compelling, powerfully written book, Polly Toynbee shows that unless we acknowledge the poor and radically improve their prospects, it will be. Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche |
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For the sake of social experiment, Toynbee moves into one of the poorest and most destitute council estates in London and sets about attempting to live on the minimum wage, scraping by just like her neighbours and colleagues. From furnishing her flat at minimum cost from a local charity project, to surviving on less than ten pounds’ worth of food for a fortnight, she aims to live authentically, taking on a variety of low-paid manual jobs, including a care home assistant, hospital porter, school cook and nursery nurse, to pay her way.
Despite her admirable goal (and a fairly admirable achievement), Toynbee never really makes her study as authentic as the blurb suggests. She doesn’t actually utilise benefits services, instead paying large donations for their cooperation. She still flits back to her 'old life’ as a journalist from time to time, to her nice house, when things get a bit dire. Some of the most profound moments actually stem from this, showing the difference in her two sets of wages, and the reactions of the benefit agencies to her hypothetical concerns.
This is definitely a worthwhile read, but sadly lacks grit and tails off to a disappointingly political and long-winded conclusion. Could have been done better. ( )