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Americans feeling squeezed: It's not your fault, says Alissa Quart

Photo by Ann Fox

  

Journalist Alissa Quart has a message for the struggling middle class: You’re not alone and it’s not your fault. In her new book, Squeezed: Why Our Families Can’t Afford America, she tells the story of the predicament facing the middle class – people who’ve “done everything right,” but can’t get ahead.

She shows how politicians have failed families and individuals who've been wrung out by a system that doesn’t support them and enriches a tiny elite. What are real solutions to this crisis?

Guest:

Alissa Quart, journalist, writer, executive editor of the non-profit Economic Hardship Reporting Project, and author of four non-fiction books, including Branded, Monetized, and Squeezed

Web Resources:

The Guardian: For the struggling middle class, Alissa Quart has a message: you're not alone

In These Times: Is it time for parents to unionize?

New York Times: In the Middle Class, and Barely Getting By

Christian Science Monitor: 'Squeezed' paints a dark picture of an American middle class that can't keep up

 

Rose Aguilar has been the host of Your Call since 2006. She became a regular media roundtable guest in 2001. In 2019, the San Francisco Press Club named Your Call the best public affairs program. In 2017, The Nation named it the most valuable local radio show.