Working & Homeless: The Death of the American Dream | Poverty in the USA Documentary



In the USA, many people are working 2 or more jobs and still living below the poverty line. Families are forced to move their children between motels and city campsites, always afraid of losing the next job โ€“ these are the โ€˜working poorโ€™.

Around 15% of the US population live below the poverty line. Since the economic crisis of 2009, over nine million jobs have been created in America. Officially, the recession is over. But American workers have come out of the crisis more vulnerable and even poorer than ever. Meet the people behind Americaโ€™s economic recovery.

Germania has two minimum wage jobs, working 18 hours a day. Three-quarters of her salary goes on paying for the 15m square motel room she shares with her two children and her mother-in-law. But even with two jobs, she struggles to buy food for her family. In the past four months, they have stayed in five motels, moving every few weeks to ever-cheaper rooms as their money runs out.

Joe and Chelsie live with their two young daughters in a tent in a church car park. Their bathroom is a porta-potty they share with 50 other people. Around 500 families in Seattle live in these temporary camps. Like Germania, Chelsie works full time but she can no longer afford to live in the city she works in.

Trade Union leader, Scott Slawson, has worked for General Electric for 13 years. But a few days ago, he was told his job will be re-located to a state with no wages and 50% lower salaries. He doesnโ€™t know if he will be able to find another job.

This documentary was first released in 2016.

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35 thoughts on “Working & Homeless: The Death of the American Dream | Poverty in the USA Documentary”

  1. If the idiot Biden raises the minimum wage to $15, we just have to cut down on employees! Biden has to stop wasting money on illegals and foreign matters and make our gas and grocery prices more affordable. What good is to raise minimum wage to $15 dollars and all necessity price higher!

    Reply
  2. I was infected with Chlamydia Infection causing me recurring symptoms so I used #DRMADIDA herbal medicine from YouTube and all symptoms stopped after using the medicine…now I am cured completely without any more symptoms.

    Reply
  3. With no skills, life in America will be very difficult. Everybody knows that.
    Plan your life, get a skill.
    I came to America 40 years ago. With a combination of savings, loans, scholarships and hard work I got my engineering degree at 28 years old. Living a very Spartan lifestyle with no frivolous spending for many years even after college.
    Now, I have a few millions saved and feel very economically secure.
    For US citizens, life has so many opportunities. Please take advantage of that. โ€ฆbut start planning early.

    Reply
  4. Only in Indonesia are people who have cars considered rich. Even though the person lives in a rented house. A car in Indonesia is something that is considered expensive and luxurious. I'm Indonesian.

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  5. What a totally bias video.

    Tou can retire a millionaire starting at age 18 in 2023 with only $250 per month invested.

    These people got themselves into this situation. This is what happens when society tells you to buy all the new phones, cars, etc. instead of investmenting for your future. I can easily afford a $1,000 phone but instead I bought a nrand new LG V60 thinq flagship phone that's just a few years old for $250. Was 4 times that when it released.

    Stip spending more tuan you make, pay yourself first by investing for the future, and make a budget that includes some fun spending fir the now and stick to it. It's all about percentages of your income.

    Reply
  6. It appears to be like the great depression 2.0 is on its way.
    Big business has destroyed diversity in our towns and cities.
    They employ so many they have too much power over local and country wide politics.

    Reply
  7. If they have the ability to leave state
    I'm sure they can teach English language in middle east . I have seen many American people here who are teaching English and they well paid

    Reply
  8. I don't understand why American McDonald doesn't pay people the correct wages, In Australia adults age 18 and above earn more than a fourteen year old and these teenagers get more than adults American do.

    Reply
  9. I'm currently an under 18 supermarket employee in Denmark….and I earn 75 DKK an hour, which is the equivalent to 10.8 dollars an hour. An over 18 employee earns approx. 19 dollars an hour. America is wild.

    Reply
  10. Rent payment is more important rather then homeless crack heads ๐Ÿคฃ๐Ÿ˜‚๐ŸŒช๏ธ๐ŸŒช๏ธ๐ŸŒช๏ธ๐ŸŒช๏ธ๐ŸŒช๏ธ๐ŸŒช๏ธ๐ŸŒช๏ธ๐ŸŒช๏ธ๐Ÿคฃ๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚

    Reply
  11. America peaked in the early sixties and has been in a steady decline since! We can blame problematic minorities and feminism as the reason!! Two things we never had to worry about in the 1950s!!! Fact!!!!

    Reply
  12. My job recently announced a dollar an hour raise for everyone, which was met with celebration but also with suspicion, because they had never done anything like that. A week later they announced all 40 hour shifts were now 29.5 hour shifts. So even with the "raise" we make less money. And we now don't qualify for insurance benefits. Which was the point of this whole thing.

    Reply
  13. the money these people make just gets taken by the landlords. if they raise the minimum wage, the landlords just jack up the rents to take that raise. its endless cycle of despair. the gov has to stop the rise of home prices, rents for these people to get out of this despair

    Reply
  14. The US needs to enact laws to forbid foreigners from buying home and jacking up prices. New law needs to be changed to stop corporations from buying homes. New law needs to be changed to stop people investing in homes and that a home is only a place to live and not get rich off from. Otherwise, if wages are increased, the landlords just keep jacking up the rents. These people are stuck in this horrible cycle

    Reply
  15. The company's profit is huge, compared to the minimum wage they pay the workers. To justify himself, he says that the state is to blame for the minimum wage, because it is in the interest of a business to pay low.Nobody understood about what she have said about competition….Competition between companies, it has nothing to do with employees…. Who is the market????? Thats she is laughing at the ends. 9:54

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  16. 31:00 – 'People honkin' their horns'!! – THAT is what we are being reduced to; like Here in the UK; – 'clap' if you support the nurses!! – what We All Need :
    IS A FUCKIN' REVOLUTION!

    Phil Liverpool UK ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง
    PS … 39:00 – They've 'got em' by the BALLS' –
    IT STINKS!
    PPS – & a Fifth Avenue Billionaire has a Xmas tree placed in every room in His 'triplex – & THAT Includes .

    C '39 290 0

    .,

    Reply

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