Getting Me Cheap

Amanda Freeman is an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Hartford and a writer and researcher of motherhood and work. She lives in Westport, Connecticut, and Getting Me Cheap (The New Press) is her first book.Lisa Dodson is Research Professor Emerita at Boston College. She is the author of The Moral Underground: How Ordinary Americans Subvert an Unfair Economy and co-author (with Amanda Freeman) of Getting Me Cheap: How Low Wage Work Traps Women and Girls in Poverty (both from The New Press) and Don’t Call Us Out of Name. She lives in Portland, Oregon.

Praise for Getting Me Cheap:“This empathetic and eye-opening study leaves a mark.”—Publishers Weekly“The stories shared in this volume speak for themselves, spotlighting the frustrations, needs, and hopes of the women featured.”—Library Journal“An insightful book that shines light on issues that should be better understood by any responsible citizen.”—Kirkus Reviews“An illuminating primer placing the obstacles facing women with low-wage jobs at the forefront of intersectional feminism.”—Booklist“An urgent exposé and exploration of one of our most pressing social problems—hidden in plain sight. A must-read for anyone concerned about how to make America a more just and equal nation.”—Saru Jayaraman, president of One Fair Wage and author of One Fair Wage“This formidable book insists we face the harm of wage poverty in women’s lives and see the real costs of relying on their cheap labor. The powerful stories of mothers’ determination to care for their children become a courageous call for solidarity and collective action.”—Ellen Bravo, activist and author of Standing Up: Tales of Struggle“The lives that so many of us lead depend on the invisible labor of others, whose own needs are cast aside by our society. This brilliant book moves those essential workers—so many of them mothers—into the light”—Michael Eric Dyson, New York Times bestselling author of Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America“The United States has the highest percentage of low-wage workers of any country in the OECD aside from Lithuania—a disproportionate number of them women who provide services to better-off families. Freeman and Dobson take us inside their lives to reveal the price they and their families pay for the cheap labor they provide to others.”—Stephanie Coontz, author of The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap