Mary Gatta

Waiting on Retirement

Aging and Economic Insecurity in Low-Wage Work

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

Mary Gatta is Associate Professor of Sociology at the City University of New York: Stella and Charles Guttman Community College.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Stanford University Press
• Seitenzahl: 184
• Erscheinungstermin: 2. Oktober 2018
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 216mm x 139mm x 16mm
• Gewicht: 234g
• ISBN-13: 9781503607408
• ISBN-10: 1503607402
• Artikelnr.: 50910453

Autorenporträt

Mary Gatta is Associate Professor of Sociology at the City University of New York: Stella and Charles Guttman Community College.

Inhaltsangabe

Contents and Abstracts
1The New Normal: Economic Insecurity in America
chapter abstract
This chapter introduces the concept of economic security and presents a
current overview of the low-wage labor market. While a good deal of
attention has been paid to economic security, current discussions are only
addressing part of the story. While the task of meeting day-to-day needs is
significant, it is not enough to ensure stability. Instead workers have to
be prepared for how they are going to make ends meet when they can no
longer work. Highlighting demographic data on economic security in the
United States, this chapter traces the larger social and economic context
by highlighting the impact of the Great Recession and recovery, growing
economic inequality, declining values of real wages, a decreasing social
safety net, increasing low-wage work options, and the size of our aging
population that is working longer. Special attention is paid to how
inequality shapes both working and postwork lives.
2The Fast Money Trap
chapter abstract
In Chapter 2 the stories of current restaurant workers illuminate their
attempts to prepare for their economic futures in their thirties and
forties-the Generation Xers. How do these workers define their economic
situation, how do they see their future, and what might they be planning?
What are their plans for retirement? Concerns for retirement? Plans for
their families? How do they envision their later years, including how long
they plan to work? Throughout this chapter, it becomes clear that
Generation X workers-many of whom will not succeed at finding alternatives
out of the service sector-will inevitably face economic insecurity,
exacerbated by various health hazards associated with service sector work.
3Aging in Low-Wage Work
chapter abstract
Chapter 3 shares the experiences of "lifers"-workers in their fifties and
sixties who have spent their careers in restaurant work-throughout the
United States and their struggle as they try to make ends meet. How can we
understand the daily lives of these workers who spend so much of their
working lives in low-wage work? What are the physical and health challenges
of working in low-wage work and aging? What are the stereotypes of older
workers? How do they balance work and family needs? How they manage their
economic stability? And this chapter also highlights how this problem
stands to get dramatically worse as the growing number of service sector
employees age.
4Retiring in a Coffin
chapter abstract
Chapter 4 explores the experiences of retired restaurant workers-many of
whom are retired by circumstance, not choice. Some may have mastered
patchwork solutions to meet their immediate needs during their working
years, but have not saved enough money to no longer work. Others may have
already outlived their savings, and others will never stop working. The
stories of restaurant workers are complemented by the experiences of other
retired seniors-some who had defined benefit plans and others who were
surviving just on their social security checks. Almost all face economic
anxiety at some level. As more and more people enter low-wage service work
and greater numbers of jobs outside low-wage work begin to mirror some of
the worst workplace practices (movements away from defined benefit plans
and deceasing value of wages), more and more people will experience
insecure retirement across the board.
5Crisis or Come Together
chapter abstract
Chapter 5 draws connections between the lived experiences of workers and
finds ways to strategize about change and consider the policy implications
of what we learn. What will the situation be like in 2035 when workers who
are in their thirties and forties today in low-wage work will be
approaching retirement age? Could the situation get worse? Is this the new
normal? This final chapter addresses these larger concerns along with
detailing a new social contract that involves public policy. How might
workplace practices be reenvisioned? Can we learn something from the
smaller portion of good service jobs? What new pathways to economic
security in retirement for our aging workers can be put into place? This
chapter provides the opportunity to reflect on the experiences on
restaurant workers and to highlight a new social contract that can offer a
path to an economically secure retirement for all workers.