People in America are struggling to make ends meet all the time. According to Amramsky, page 103, by 2009 almost the entire south upward 17 percent of the population and 23 percent of the children lived in poverty. There are plenty of programs that can help an American family just a little bit with their living needs. For instance TANF and unemployment. These programs are assessable for the public but what I find hard to understand is the work that you have to put in to earn some of these benefits. For instance to qualify for SNAP if you're a adult with no children you have to only work 20 hours a week and be a full time student.

In Chapter 5, The Wrong side of the tracks, I found interesting reading about how politicians spend a lot of tine distinguishing between those simply down on their luck or those that are trying to get over on the system. According to the reading, there are now barriers up which can make these programs a little bit harder to get into because of better restrictions. This logic has worked but it has also scared away some people that really need the benefits but do not want to go through the application process and all the interrogation for the benefits. I found this information to be so important because I feel that these programs are so hard for a person that really needs the help to get because of the application process. I have seen plenty of families that avoids using the system because they don't want to go through the application process.

In chapter 6, Stuck in Reverse, I enjoyed reading about when work doesn't pay the bills. According to the reading in 2011, researchers with the Economic Policy Institute estimated that if the government entirely absented itself from the business of tax subsides and assistance to the poor the poverty rate in America will jump up to 23.7 percent. I found this information to be true because people don't receive the benefits that they should receive at work. If the government was to take away child care how could a single parent afford for someone to watch their child as they work.