In America's New Working Class, the way Kathleen Arnold compares welfare and "workfare" to parole helps to give a better understanding of how the system works. Just like people on parole, the consequences for noncompliance dictate their lives. These people depend on this program for everything. That's really the sad part too because many of the people who are on "workfare" are overworked and underpaid. According to Arnold, people who are on welfare or working hours on end for less than minimum wage will probably never even rise to lower-middle class status. Even as the welfare programs in the US were supposed to going through so-called reform, the only thing that changed was the penalties for those who depended on the program as a means of living. Arnold even goes as far as comparing welfare to slavery to make sure there is a clear understanding as to how bad the conditions truly are. It isn't flat out identical to slavery, but based on the Marx model, welfare comes pretty close when limited collective bargaining and "de facto political disenfranchisement" come into play.
Nydia Velazquez how lower class families travel through the same cycle decade after decade in her piece, In Search of Justice. She compares the lower class to the wealthy and shows how severe the separation between the two is. I didn't realize that the numbers were so large. Based on Velazquez's writing, I'm beginning to understand that a lot of the poverty in the United States is well hidden; you won't see it unless you're looking for it.
Both of these pieces make the issue of poverty seem a little more realistic. It's always something you heard about or see on the news, but to have numbers that explain what's going on helps to shine more light on the situation.
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