Privately owned companies rake in billions of dollars by providing services such as health care, food stamps, and tax preparation to poor people in the United States. In Poverty for Profit, journalist Anne Kim details these industries and more in a comprehensive, compassionate look at how the U.S. provides social services.
Researched over many years, Poverty for Profit takes readers from dialysis clinics to Job Corps centers to prisons, making its case by using a combination of thoroughly cited facts and figures and personal stories from experts, workers, and poor people themselves. Readers learn how systems are designed to keep poor people poor so they will need to continue using social services (or will become incarcerated), as well as how private companies take advantage of government programs such as Medicaid, Medicare, and food stamps to fill their coffers.
Poverty for Profit is accessible and informative, and no matter how deep Kim (Abandoned) gets into statistics, she keeps readers engaged. Due to its subject matter, the book is not a light read; at times, it is downright enraging.
The book's six chapters each focus on one aspect of the system, and Kim ends with suggestions for how to fix the problems she outlines. She concludes Poverty for Profit with common misconceptions, such as how "welfare work requirements, for instance, reinforce the prejudice that recipients are 'lazy,' " and provides numerous counterpoints to combat similar ideas. Poverty for Profit is a terrific addition to any reading list for those interested in social justice and reform. --Alyssa Parssinen, freelance reviewer and former bookseller