Over the last generation, inequality has risen, wages have fallen, and confidence that children will have a better future is at an all-time low. To be sure, a new generation is speaking up in support of universal health care, better public schools, affordable housing, and livable wages. But until the United States adopts and adheres to policies that ensure dignity and decency for all, people need to get by. This book addresses that imperative. Getting By offers an integrated, critical account of the programs, rights, and legal protections that most directly affect poor and low-income people in the United States, whether they are unemployed, underemployed, or employed, and whether they work within the home or outside the home. Although frayed and incomplete, the American safety net nevertheless is critical to those who can access and obtain its benefits—indeed, in some cases, those benefits can make the difference between life and death. The book covers cash assistance programs, employment and labor rights, food assistance, health care, housing programs, education, consumer and banking laws, rights in public spaces, judicial access, and the right to vote. The book primarily focuses on federal laws and programs, but in some contexts invites attention to state laws and programs. The rules and requirements are complicated, often unnecessarily so, and popular know-how is essential to prevent a widening gap between rights that exist on paper and their enforcement on the ground. The central goal of this volume is to provide a resource to individuals, groups, and communities that wish to claim existing rights and mobilize for progressive change.
