Working Scared : the Lost Decade, Great Recession, and Restoring the Shattered American Dream

At the end of the 20th century, with the economy booming and unemployment at historic lows, the American economy was a job-producing marvel. The first decade of the 21st century was entirely different as the worst economy in 70 years, the Great Recession, crushed the lives of tens of millions of workers and their families, forestalled careers, scrapped hopes for a college education, delayed retirements, and foreclosed family homes. American workers experienced the best and worst of times and have endured an entire “lost decade” of high unemployment, stagnant or declining incomes, and anxiety. Working Scared draws upon nearly 25,000 interviews with employed and unemployed Americans conducted from, 1998 to 2012. These “voices” of American workers tell a compelling story about wrenching structural changes and recessions during one of the most volatile periods in U.S economic history. This book represents one of the most comprehensive social science research portraits of the views of American workers’ about their jobs, the workplace, and government’s role in the labor market. Working Scared will help citizens, policy makers, educators, business, union, and community leaders better understand what is happening to the United States workforce. It also describes the essential national priorities and policies that will assist frustrated, angry and scared American workers and the reforms that will help restore the American dream of secure employment and inter-generational progress.

Carl E. Van Horn, Distinguished Professor of Public Policy and founding director of the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University, is an expert on workforce, human resources, and employment policy issues with extensive experience in academia and the public sector. He is the author of more than one hundred articles and author or editor of fourteen books. Van Horn is frequently sought by national media for his views on labor, workforce, and economic issues.