Getting By on the Minimum

First published in 2002. Jennifer Johnson profiles the real-life stories of more than sixty women who have no college education, are married with kids, and earn an average of $16,000 per year, giving us an important window into a large, poorly understood segment of our society. Through the words of these women, Johnson captures the essence of women's working-class experience: from job stagnation, low self-esteem, and social isolation to camaraderie among coworkers, loyalty to one's roots, and even pride in a job well done. This compassionately told book offers a captivating and emotional study of the difference class makes in women's lives, as well as the problems, restrictions, and rewards common to all women.

"Johnson provides a compelling and informative portrait of the power of social class in the daily lives of women. Her excellent study tells us why the starting point for understanding work and family relations is social class." -- Frank Furstenberg, author of Managing to Make It:Urban Families and Adolescent Success"Jennifer Johnson's class analysis of women's working lives brings fresh insights to understanding gendered choices and constraints. Her detailed portraits capture the inequalities between women. These narratives demonstrate why workers' rights need to be protected and expanded and how family-friendly legislation can help working-class families do more than just get by." -- Mary Romero, author of Maid in the USA"Getting By on the Minimum opens a much-needed window into the lives of the ordinary women doing the ordinary work that keeps our society rolling along, showing how balancing job and family demands is a physical and economic struggle for them. The hidden injuries of class and gender emerge starkly here, but the voices of the women themselves also convey their strengths." -- Myra Marx Ferree, co-author of Controversy and Coalition: TheNew Feminist Movement Across Four Decades of Change"Getting By on the Minimum is a worthy 21st century addition to Lillian Rubin's classic, Worlds of Pain. Itdramatically captures working-class women's voices andexperiences on every page. This book offers the reader areal grasp of contemporary American women's varied anddivergent life paths." -- Phyllis Moen, author of Women'sTwo Roles: A Contemporary Dilemma"The book follows a style similar to Studs Terkel's Working and Lillian Rubin's World of Pain in that the actual works of the interviewees are used, giving the reader the impression of being directly spoken to. But Johnson's study is especially meaningful because she acknowledges the class distinction among working women and increases readers' awareness of these differences, as well as of all the workplace inequities women face. More in depth and insightful than Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickeland Dimed, the book successfully lays out the complex array of reasons some women work at lower-paying jobs, from their perspective. Well-documented and containing an extensive bibliography, this should be required reading for certain sociology and women's studies courses and is recommended for all academic and large public libraries." -- Library Journal

Jennifer Johnson is a Research Scientist in the Department of Sociology at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. She is the Co-Principal Investigator of a two-year research project funded by the National Science Foundation.