Synopsis
If you work hard, you get ahead. That's the American Dream in a nutshell — no matter what your race, color, creed or economic starting point, hard work will improve your life and increase your children's opportunities. Yet, this widely held dream is out of reach for an increasing number of working Americans.
Roger Weisberg's alarming and heart-wrenching new documentary, "Waging a Living," chronicles the day-to-day battles of four low-wage earners fighting to make work pay. The film puts a human face on the growing economic squeeze that is forcing millions of workers into the ranks of the poor. Shot in the Northeast and California, the film profiles four very different Americans who work full-time but still can't make ends meet. Despite their hard work and determination, these four find themselves, as one of them observes, "hustling backwards."
One in four American workers — more than 30 million people — are stuck in jobs that pay less than the federal poverty level for a family of four. (i) Housing costs, to name just one of several essential living expenses, have tripled since 1979, (ii) while real wages for male low-wage workers are actually less than they were 30 years ago. (iii) But the new face of the working poor is overwhelmingly that of a woman struggling to support her children. Only 37 percent of single mothers receive child support, and that support averages just $1,331 per year. (iv) Nearly a quarter of the country's children now live below the poverty line. (v)
What do these numbers mean in human terms? What is it really like to work full-time and remain poor? "Waging a Living" provides a sobering answer. Filmed over three years, the documentary offers intimate profiles of four working Americans — Jean Reynolds, Jerry Longoria, Barbara Brooks, and Mary Venittelli — as they struggle to lift their families out of poverty.
Impact
The Director's Statement
"In making 'Waging a Living,' I wanted viewers to understand what it's like to work hard, play by the rule and still not be able to support a family," says producer/director Roger Weisberg. "It's easy to take for granted the janitors and security guards in the offices where we work, the waiters and bus boys in the restaurants where we eat, and the nurses and caregivers in the facilities where we place our children and elderly. I wanted to bring viewers inside the daily grind of the nameless people we encounter every day who struggle to survive from paycheck to paycheck."
"My goal," he concludes, "was to get people to take a new look at the prevailing American myth that hard work alone can overcome poverty."
"Waging a Living" is a production of Public Policy Productions in association with Thirteen/WNET New York
In addition to community and conference screenings at numerous film festivals including several throughout the state of California and the Seoul International Labor Film Festival in Korea. It won a Best Documentary Award at the New Jersey Film Festival, a Silver Award at the Philadelphia International Film Festival, and the Silver Chris (Best of its Division) at the Columbus International Film & Video Festival Chris Awards.
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