"Squeezed: Why Our Families Can't Afford America," Alissa Quart, Ecco/HarperCollins, 312 pages, $27.99.
It wasn't long ago that the term "middle class" suggested security, conformity and often complacency — a cohort that was such a reliable feature of postwar American life that it attracted not just political pandering but also cultural ridicule.
The stereotype included everyone from men in gray flannel suits to the slick professionals of "Thirtysomething," stuck or smug in their world of bourgeois comforts.
"Squeezed," a timely new book by the journalist and poet Alissa Quart, arrives at a moment when members of the middle class are no longer a robust demographic but an embattled and shrinking population, struggling to hold on to their delicate perch in an unforgiving economic order.
Quart calls it "the Middle Precariat" — those who believed their educations and backgrounds would guarantee some financial stability. Her sharp reporting is reason enough to read "Squeezed," especially as she brings to light how parents try to cope with the financial strain of caring for children.
For all that legislators like to sentimentalize family values and hard work, they have largely abdicated their responsibility toward families, who are left to navigate a job market that prefers its employees childless and unencumbered.
The result is that hardworking parents resort to creative (but complicated and demanding) co-parenting arrangements or, as detailed in one unforgettable chapter, 24-hour day care.
NEW YORK TIMES
More from Star Tribune
More from Star Tribune
More from Star Tribune
More from Star Tribune
More from Star Tribune
More from Star Tribune
More from Star Tribune
More from Star Tribune
More From Star Tribune
More From Business
Business
Icehouse on Eat Street in Mpls. facing eviction for unpaid rent
Chicago-based Northpond Partners is suing for more than $85,000 in unpaid rent.
Business
Caitlin Clark is set to sign a new Nike deal valued at $28 million over 8 years, reports say
Caitlin Clark appears to be on the cusp of setting another record.
Business
Tesla 1Q profit falls 55%, but stock jumps as company moves to speed production of cheaper vehicles
Tesla's first-quarter net income plummeted 55%, but its stock price surged in after-hours trading Tuesday as the company said it would accelerate production of new, more affordable vehicles.
Business
Biden adminstration finalizes rule to grant overtime for millions more salaried workers
The Biden administration has finalized a new rule set to make millions of more salaried workers eligible for overtime pay in the U.S.
World
Canadian police charge 2 former UN employees with conspiracy to sell military equipment in Libya
Two former United Nations employees in Montreal have been charged with participating in a conspiracy to sell Chinese-made drones and other military equipment in Libya, Canadian police said Tuesday.