---
title: "2 Wage Workers Quotes By Kathryn Edin"
description: "2 Wage Workers quotes by Kathryn Edin. Plus more from Kathryn Edin and more Wage Workers sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb2/kathryn-edin-25745_child-care_parents-like-jennifer-susan-and-rae-expr_230793.jpg"
---

> [“Parents like Jennifer, Susan, and Rae express desires that are quite modest. Full-time hours come first. That is a prize that can be astonishingly hard to wrest from a low-wage employer who wants to avoid added costs associated with full-time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-edin/parents-like-jennifer-susan-and-rae-express-desires-that-are-quite/)

[Kathryn Edin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-edin/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb2/kathryn-edin-25745_child-care_parents-like-jennifer-susan-and-rae-expr_230793.jpg)

> [“Yet laying the blame on a lack of personal responsibility obscures the fact that there are powerful and ever-changing structural forces at play here. Service sector employers often engage in practices that middle-class professionals would never accept. They adopt policies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-edin/yet-laying-the-blame-on-a-lack-of-personal-responsibility-obscures/)

[Kathryn Edin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-edin/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71f/kathryn-edin-25745_personal-responsibil_yet-laying-the-blame-on-a-lack-of-person_1662638.jpg)

## More by Kathryn Edin

> [“Of the $16.5 billion the federal government transfers to states for TANF, more than $11 billion is siphoned off for other uses, sometimes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-edin/of-the-16-5-billion-the-federal-government-transfers-to-states-for/)

[Kathryn Edin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-edin/)

> [“Survival strategies come in three forms. The first is taking advantage of public spaces and private charities—the nation’s libraries, food pantries, homeless shelters, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-edin/survival-strategies-come-in-three-forms-the-first-is-taking-advantage/)

[Kathryn Edin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-edin/)

> [“Parents like Jennifer, Susan, and Rae express desires that are quite modest. Full-time hours come first. That is a prize that can be astonishingly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-edin/parents-like-jennifer-susan-and-rae-express-desires-that-are-quite/)

[Kathryn Edin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-edin/)

> [“Housing instability is a hallmark of life among the $2-a-day poor. Children experiencing $2-a-day poverty are far more likely to move over the course…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-edin/housing-instability-is-a-hallmark-of-life-among-the-2-a-day-poor/)

[Kathryn Edin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-edin/)

> [“As a practical matter, it is far more difficult to traffic in SNAP than it once was. Back in the days when folks got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-edin/as-a-practical-matter-it-is-far-more-difficult-to-traffic-in-snap/)

[Kathryn Edin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-edin/)

> [“The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) deems a family that is spending more than 30 percent of its income on housing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-edin/the-u-s-department-of-housing-and-urban-development-hud-deems-a/)

[Kathryn Edin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-edin/)

> [“Government-subsidized private sector job creation is one way forward. Recently, the federal government sponsored a promising short-term subsidized jobs program through something called the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-edin/government-subsidized-private-sector-job-creation-is-one-way-forward/)

[Kathryn Edin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-edin/)

> [“Out of every one hundred Americans, fewer than two get aid from today’s cash welfare program. Just 27 percent of poor families with children…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-edin/out-of-every-one-hundred-americans-fewer-than-two-get-aid-from-today/)

[Kathryn Edin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-edin/)

> [“Already in 2001, 63 percent of very low income households were putting more than half their income toward housing, leaving too little for other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-edin/already-in-2001-63-percent-of-very-low-income-households-were-putting/)

[Kathryn Edin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-edin/)

> [“Providing the ultimate safety net is the role that Temporary Assistance for Needy Families is supposed to play, but it hasn’t proved to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-edin/providing-the-ultimate-safety-net-is-the-role-that-temporary/)

[Kathryn Edin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-edin/)

> [“The most obvious manifestation of the affordable housing crisis is in rising rents. Between 1900 and 2013, rents rose faster than inflation in virtually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-edin/the-most-obvious-manifestation-of-the-affordable-housing-crisis-is-in/)

[Kathryn Edin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-edin/)

> [“Yet laying the blame on a lack of personal responsibility obscures the fact that there are powerful and ever-changing structural forces at play here.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-edin/yet-laying-the-blame-on-a-lack-of-personal-responsibility-obscures/)

[Kathryn Edin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-edin/)

> [“...child welfare officials deem it inappropriate for a brother and sister to sleep in the same bedroom once they reach a certain age. At…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-edin/child-welfare-officials-deem-it-inappropriate-for-a-brother-and/)

[Kathryn Edin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-edin/)

> [“Although the 1996 welfare reform pushed millions of low-income single moms into the workforce, it did nothing to improve the conditions of low-wage jobs.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-edin/although-the-1996-welfare-reform-pushed-millions-of-low-income-single/)

[Kathryn Edin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-edin/)

> [“In the fine print on a food stamp application, it is made clear that selling SNAP can result in a felony charge. And the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-edin/in-the-fine-print-on-a-food-stamp-application-it-is-made-clear-that/)

[Kathryn Edin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-edin/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "ItemList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wage-workers/kathryn-edin/#itemlist",
            "name": "2 Wage Workers Quotes By Kathryn Edin",
            "numberOfItems": 2,
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“Parents like Jennifer, Susan, and Rae express desires that are quite modest. Full-time hours come first. That is a prize that can be astonishingly hard to wrest from a low-wage employer who wants to avoid added costs associated with full-time employment, such as health insurance and paid time off. A predictable schedule, so parents can arrange for safe, reliable child care, comes next. A few say they would be happy if they could get just those two things. Yet finding a job with even those basic attributes is something Susan Brown feels she can only dream of, not expect. Most parents, like Jennifer and Rae, hope for a little more. If they could just make $12 or $13 per hour, they say, they could make it; $15 per hour is really shooting the moon. Safe working conditions, and some sick or personal days, would be a real plus. The other “extras” that once came routinely with a full-time job—health insurance, vacation days, and retirement benefits—don’t often come up in conversations with the $2-a-day poor. These perks are so uncommon among the jobs available to low-wage workers that they seem all but outside the bounds of reality.”",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Kathryn Edin"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-edin/parents-like-jennifer-susan-and-rae-express-desires-that-are-quite/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb2/kathryn-edin-25745_child-care_parents-like-jennifer-susan-and-rae-expr_230793.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb2/kathryn-edin-25745_child-care_parents-like-jennifer-susan-and-rae-expr_230793.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb2/kathryn-edin-25745_child-care_parents-like-jennifer-susan-and-rae-expr_230793.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Parents like Jennifer, Susan, and Rae express desires that are quite modest. Full-time hours come first…” — Kathryn Edin",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“Yet laying the blame on a lack of personal responsibility obscures the fact that there are powerful and ever-changing structural forces at play here. Service sector employers often engage in practices that middle-class professionals would never accept. They adopt policies that, purposely or not, ensure regular turnover among their low-wage workers, thus cutting the costs that come with a more stable workforce, including guaranteed hours, benefits, raises, promotions, and the like. Whatever can be said about the characteristics of the people who work low-wage jobs, it is also true that the jobs themselves too often set workers up for failure. The”",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Kathryn Edin"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-edin/yet-laying-the-blame-on-a-lack-of-personal-responsibility-obscures/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71f/kathryn-edin-25745_personal-responsibil_yet-laying-the-blame-on-a-lack-of-person_1662638.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71f/kathryn-edin-25745_personal-responsibil_yet-laying-the-blame-on-a-lack-of-person_1662638.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71f/kathryn-edin-25745_personal-responsibil_yet-laying-the-blame-on-a-lack-of-person_1662638.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Yet laying the blame on a lack of personal responsibility obscures the fact that there are powerful and…” — Kathryn Edin",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "CollectionPage",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wage-workers/kathryn-edin/#webpage",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wage-workers/kathryn-edin/",
            "name": "Wage Workers Quotes by Kathryn Edin",
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "mainEntity": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wage-workers/kathryn-edin/#itemlist"
            },
            "primaryImageOfPage": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb2/kathryn-edin-25745_child-care_parents-like-jennifer-susan-and-rae-expr_230793.jpg"
            },
            "description": "2 Wage Workers quotes by Kathryn Edin. Plus more from Kathryn Edin and more Wage Workers sayings from other authors.",
            "breadcrumb": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wage-workers/kathryn-edin/#breadcrumb"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wage-workers/kathryn-edin/#breadcrumb",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Topics",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Wage Workers",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wage-workers/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "name": "Kathryn Edin",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wage-workers/kathryn-edin/"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```