NYT film review of “Waging a Living,”
directed by Roger Weisberg
Tales of the Poor, Working to Survive in America
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS
New York Times June 22, 2005
For most of the readers of this newspaper a 25-cent increase in hourly wage would hardly be cause for celebration. But for at least one of the subjects of “Waging a Living” – an eye-opening, often heartbreaking documentary about America’s working poor – that pittance could mean the difference between disaster and survival.
Filmed over a three-year period in the Northeast and California, “Waging a Living” tracks four ethnically diverse, low-wage workers as they struggle to bridge the gap between paycheck and expenses. “There’s no American dream anymore,” sighs Jean Reynolds, 51, a certified nursing assistant supporting three children and four grandchildren on $1,200 a month. In common with 78 percent of low-wage workers, Jean has no health insurance and faces eviction when she must choose between paying her rent and purchasing medication for her terminally ill daughter.Middle-aged divorc
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