Differences That Matter
Subtitle: Social Policy And the Working Poor in the United States And Canada
Publisher: ILR Press; ILR Press/Cornell University Press
Published: April 20, 2006
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 230
ISBN-13: 9780801473128
Subjects: Poverty; Social welfare & social services; Sociology; Social Science; Working poor; Canada; USA; Sociology - General; Sociology - Social Theory; Labor & Industrial Relations - General; Public Policy - Social Policy; Government policy; United States
Description: Two hotel chains, each with one union and one non-union hotel in Seattle and Vancouver, provide a vivid crossnational comparison because they are similar in so many regards, the one major exception being government policy. Zuberi demonstrates how labor, health, social welfare, and public investment policy affect these hotel workers and their families. His book challenges the myth that globalization necessarily means hospitality jobs must be insecure and pay poverty wages and makes clear the critical role played by government policy in the reduction of poverty and creation of economic equality. Zuberi shows exactly where and how the social policies that distinguish the Canadian welfare state from the U.S. version make a difference in protecting Canadian workers from the hardships that burden low-wage workers in the United States. – from publisher information.