intended to apply it to many circumstances. but this is not a cookbook you can read to say what the national order will be. it is an attempt to tell you this is what we are up against now. this is the challenge we have and here are some ways of looking at it but it does not say that i know what the end result of all these complex and these ambiguities, some of which are described, will be. ..

>> >> also for the mother's day and singing rendition. [laughter] as they came across the stage in costume but this is a different type of evening but i have a great pleasure to introduce a phenomenal

event -- a phenomenal woman and great friend a sociologists for gender research and i first got to know her when she wrote in article. any guesses what the word is? the minutes of. it was about women in college taking a feminism studies class. and she brought such a sense of humor but also with the seriousness of the issue. i was looking for a partner to do the research and for my book lean in. she is a combination of someone who is deeply deeply

fantastic academic who understands research and what makes research valid but incredible desire to make the world a better place for those who have the same economic opportunities. that is the passion that comes out in the book. she has been a great friend to be. so please treat me to welcome marianne cooper. [applause] so here we are here to talk about "cut adrift" families in insecure times" her new book just out and talks about family is coping and insecure times. our goal is to have this

conversation i will ask her questions and you will have the chance that we will be a whole fleet with a better understanding how we understand economic insecurity of many different ways than what we can do as a society. so from the very beginning you are interested in so many things economic insecurity, sociological underpinnings of what makes people tick also feminism and gender. this is a remarkable book i've read it on my vacation i could not put it down. it was amazing. what led you to write this book at this time? >> guest: because a major part of the story of what is happening in our society. for the past two decades in

security has been on the rise now a middle-class that is losing jobs, the losing homes. that is told through statistics. and what they have concluded is right now we have the most unprecedented levels of economic inequality by some measures they have not been this bad since the great depression richest dramatic but i felt that was not coming across with these charts that were so meticulous lead documented so i felt somebody needed to talk about this. so underneath the hard numbers are the people who live this in there everyday life.

they know more on their own because of it but we don't know how they're coping and also the growing divide between the haves and have-nots the way it changes the way reman niche and experience security and insecurity. >> host: news say there are long standing trends for further income disparity. that is all happening cent 2008. so start by talking about the overall economic trend that is happening. >> guest: it is a big story but three of the most important things have never happened is the decline of middle income jobs, and growing inequality and those

their risk. a used to be our economy was based on manufacturing but now it is based on services. 80% of jobs are in the service sector. in comparison to manufacturing service sector pay less with fewer benefits and are more insecure. but then layered on top of this is workers no longer have the leverage they once did to collectively bargain for better wages because unions are on the steep decline. after world war ii about one-third of employed people were represented by unions but now we have a historical low only 11 percent and represented by unions. also taken not collectively bargain to get a better deal

but it has eroded a moral commitment to fair pay and other employers respect to that so now we have a double whammy. the other thing that occurred is there has been every riding of the social contract between employers and employees that used to be based on mutual will that the players gave them good wages and benefits and in return they worked really hard for the company. but increasingly risk is offloaded onto individuals so if you think about the movement from pensions to four '01 ks now say her off

the hook for retirement and the calculations so the types of jobs and are created far harder to find and harder to hold onto. and families experience that. and that depends on their use it in relation because with all that a growing insecurity so there are some highly educated workers who are doing very well and have really good job so it does put up for different families. >> host: si watched 50 families over a long period time that the information is detailed and intimate you don't just look at how they're living but really deep detail how they feel

and why they feel and that is what you taught me with the purpose of the underlying reason so talk about the methodology had to get families to invite you this deeply into your life? >> wanted to understand this side cited interviews to find families of the middle-class to interview about obstacles but i've wanted to add to that if so i followed some are round like really follow them around to. [laughter] site is they wittier i went there. [laughter] i would go to pick up the kids i went to the soccer games and a guy to know them but the hardest part is

recruiting the family specifically it is hard for people to be in their research. if anybody asks you say yes because it is hard. [laughter] but was extra hard i needed to know they're in, level that is not some normally do you say how much you earn quacksalver figure out another way i struggled but then i met laura as a cashier at a big box stored and she seemed nice is to solve the problem and i asked to interview her then she invited me to her son's all-star little league tournament game but pilar and weigh more than ever wanted.

there very long games. rally along. [laughter] sometimes says not so bad when they lose because then you can go home. parents are dying for something to talk about. [laughter] so i was sitting in the stands with her around this working-class community and a kid hits a fallible it goes into the parking lot of the opposing team and they said they hope the cars don't get hit the your fancy cars. i asked whether they came from she said in affluent community in silicon valley and so then i realized it

was the version of the story of is trying to tell. she has this minivan with the crack in a the window and a winter when it was like the their realized is a great way to recruit families because that is the way to find out the income level so the next few weeks driving around to all these games. [laughter] if you see someone just standing there it could be a stanford researcher. [laughter] i was turned down a few times a lot of people said yes. those of the families they ended up working with. but from there i interviewed families i got 50.

then what i thought was the emerging trends i picked them is sarah representative of the trend to do in depth that i followed them around to hang out with them. there's a lot of books you can read about to establish rapport. but it does start genuinely caring what people have to say. the guides and other families really well but technically i spent a lot more time with them but i've had contact cent research began deal your id with the kids start to swear at you and the husband will roll his eyes said his wife confronted you.

after time they let their guard down.

>> >> they had much more secure jobs with the pay increases but they were still worried which we will talk about but then day interview with old woman she and her husband both have the nba's making for a defect 2000 talking about college and she says we don't have enough savings set aside.

how much do you have? $140,000. so tell me about that. the issue was she felt it was their parental obligation to send kids to college to pay for it and she could have said community college or pay for yourself but she felt it was her responsibility said she felt behind so i felt we even those that have resources there's a lot of anxiety. so when i found third families have to do that security work for the gap between what they earn and what they need. can even for just daily economic life there is a historical context but right now this era to manage in

security is harder for a larger number of families. >> host: let's talk about that security work. from one family to the one that turns of lot. so what are the strategies they have to deal with them? >> people respond emotionally. this is the real contribution of my book. with this job of creating security has been transferred to all of us, so affluent families make contributions but they also rely on different emotions to get by it took me a long

time to figure out what i was hearing and i was out doing exercise. this is before i had children and i heard a story that help to clarify the man that was 62 years old that was a driver for a drug manufacturer. after 13 years of barely getting by he comes up with the plan for his social security benefits and went down to the local bank to $80 and turned it over to the security guard. at the trial he told the judge a minimum security prison with suits him fine

because that the release of prison he to receive full social security benefits. but after struggling to find a job at the hearing the judge hands down the sentence she said i will give you a birthday present and gave him exactly what he wanted a jail term at a minimum security prison. i thought how does someone come to feel that going to jail is the perfect birthday gift that the situation was so bad that he said i will

do it? this is a good way to go. that's what pushes me to understand that families are coping with insecurities not by what they do buy what they feel and how they manage their time. we're not doing security. so as to talk about specific security were. but to share with us why they felt insecure and what about. >> we talk about this a lot of the presence in the work force people have

expectations of the workforce there is allotted their book about the reference points and expectations. but technology cover everyone feels insecure but they want more and more and more. the really trying to get themselves. he told me it did not feel strange.

i am in the top 1% but i don't feel there. but then on the other hand, laurier who in many ways there was less worry. she scales back to the food and shelter and clothing and only focuses on the positives. focus of the positives

having nothing is not always a bad thing. really? so what i realize that this is the common things that i was finding is that they tried to make the insecurity that they faced more tolerable. at one time they heaped got turned off. and she said it is like we are camping. it really is a symbol of insecurity the lack of heat. and used like family bonding. instead of trying to accommodate themselves to greater insecurity they

produce that economic fire wall that protected their family. and they were particularly concerned. i dunno what i heard in india and china our on the rise. and one says they took my son with me on a business trip to china to see how hard they work. and other family took their daughter to india to understand what we're facing. the field have the skill set or knowledge set your job will end up in another country. and that is terrifying. [laughter] so with these families

another took their daughters and a to work of a call center and that said if you not have a school set -- of the skill set your job will end up in another country which is terrifying if you are 10. [laughter] so i hope i can fey but there's a lot of real anxiety with these families that i talked to. date needed a net worth north of $10 million before they felt pretty into basic your. so this is to say that the dividing lines among us are not just economic but also emotional in terms of how we define security. >> host: one of the things your book brings out a lot of these mechanisms it is

exacerbating the quality. is a self reinforcing cycle of increasing income disparity. increasing security wherever you are. then the behavior's reinforce that trend. can you explain how that works? >> most of us think it is in the quality so why are we composite? for this research are realized we are all head down focused on our situation that leads to responses due to borrow where she will talk herself through the anxiety and she compensates for that and quality that creates the hardship that she has to endure. she talks herself through this and works on her feelings and this hands up

preventing her from taking a critical stance to the system that she is then instead of saying a cannot believe they don't have health care so she blames herself. see you have that response but then you have one who was not satisfied with what he has pushing for more to insulate his children to position them from the world's pcs says increasingly insecure. they both call in ways that exacerbate the problem. so in response their rich don't think they have enough and starving for more than everybody else realizes they cannot do much about the situation. so we make inequality worse than we're all busy treading

water to cope we fail to come together collectively. >> host: there are great examples in your book about the role religion plays. one essentials peace is there is not the safety net provided by voluntary employers the people went to work for one company. and not the government safety net. as a result this safety net is not there and they look elsewhere. and their communities that they can facilitate to really be that safety net.

>> there are families such talk to those that focus on religion were working class and family the bridge in economic trouble their return to new churches for social support like food and shelter and clothing also relied on their faith psychological comforts. that god has a plan and material blessings provided a lot of comfort this is told from an immigrant family and the mother works as the domestic worker would say i don't know how we would make it without the church. they gave them diapers and several times they provided money for rent. the lord has a plea and when she would get really stressed out she would pray

that the lord would find out way. so a friend of hers brought some food she interpreted that is god's looking now for them. but i never had someone at the top save my for a one cable end up by 20 percent that is a blessing. [laughter] so god works in different ways for different people. [laughter] it was a remarkable thing to see this church go behind his family but it talks about the shifting of risk welfare provisions have been increasingly gone from the state's the evidence is inconsistent this is the best approach but the problems this creates as

safety nets have been rolled up churches are the only place for people to return that people feel they need to say you're believe things this should not be the only place people should term. so this is not the only haven in the heart this world. >> host: you told the family bond ashley story through this family they were givers and receivers there were points in time they need extra of money or basic needs and the church provided but then one of the things that kept them from building that safety net when they had extra they would give back to their

community. and a strong sense of those people being alone. it is a perfect segue because of some point in time that is the american dream and then the next generation is better off. the was the american dream of my great grandparents what happened to the american dream? >> guest: the american dream has long been equated moving up the class ladder and owning a home. but people have to think those goals are attainable

but what i found is people have let go of their dreams because something outside of their control a medical emergency or something had affected them so long term goal is painful that you set yourself up for disappointment. instead of thinking of their dreams, the head down to protect themselves in this environment, people used to think working hard would translate the data is going by the wayside so people are much more focused now and other surveys to yoda home

is the desire to be debt-free and all this makes sense. but an insecure society has a huge cost. at with its peoples of the ability to dream. >> host: as though economic growth is one of the answers what is the heather's? with the american dream is just the dream then highroad to be reinvigorate the american dream? >> that we have to pull together it does not have to

be this way. but they often experience leica personal failure the reality is they didn't do anything wrong. policy has failed them and that is one of the only things that will get us out. this is the conversation about morals and values and we have to have some standards. if you work full-time you should not live in poverty. period. [applause] >> host: upgrade example is a few serve our country in uniform you should not live in poverty. [applause] if you are a teacher in our schools, someone who provides emergency services

these people is so important to all of us. living below the poverty line. something we should not tolerate. >> it is an american but the idea if someone gets in a car accident they should be and so much medical debt that it destroys them financially? that also affects their kids. we need to return to the policies that created the middle-class and just to be very clear we only had one time in society where we had a thriving middle-class. just one. programs based on these values that we're much better off when wristband together and provide security to one another. standing alone doesn't get

anyone anywhere. those are the policies he have to return to. living wages, affordable child care, affordable health care and affordable college education and people say it is too expensive but i will tell you it is too expensive not to. >> host: to add to the list, equal education a matter where you are from if you go to school you should go to learn and read and write in a way that prepares you. as a society i do think we're turning our back to quickly to lose ourselves in the debate to not stay focused, the fact enormous percentage of children do not have a standard education. >> we are throwing away our

natural resources essentially is what we're doing. also when you have such inequality among schools one of the reason families are is a much that they have big mortgages they do that but to get into a good school district. they're the groove they mortgaging their families' future because they know how important it is. >> host: that's right but it puts families on that edge. >> host: i have one more question then we will turn to the audience. please keep them as a question and keep it short so people can participate. we're both passionate about equality and opportunity.

and one thing their runs claire with all the research is women are increasingly important still have the enormous percentage arouse work and child care no matter what they do in the work force. so it is an unbelievably large part of this pressure. >> especially for middle-class families. for this type it is commonplace. to interview these families i get to his version and her version. [laughter] >> that doesn't happen anywhere else? >> this is his version of her version and sociological version.

so one that is interesting is the pay was going down and i interviewed her shoes very stressed out. foul it was one of the worst times in her life and it led to her having insomnia so they interviewed her she was awake since 3m. i interviewed her husband i expected him to have that same reaction and he was pretty light hearted. we just cut back here and there into thought this is interesting but then i found the same pattern. she would say i wish you would worry more than he would say she is so good she should do it to manage the household finances.

so they played the designated warrior the person that has been so like you were so awesome you do it. the function as a security guard. so women do the first shift go to work this second shift of child care and health care and the insecurity shift the knights of worrying. this is more common as they increase destabilizing events they have these moments where they have to grapple this is the improving situation of educated women what they have in common is for a

high-school degree but not a college degree so they had more education are out earned the husband when it strikes is a woman who's the best position to deal with it. other research finds this as well when they figure out how to file for bankruptcy those that negotiate with the bill collectors i heard women's say i am on anti-depressant, i drink too much for she was not sleeping at night been diagnosed with clinical depression. this is direction we're headed in and it is a real problem for women spinnaker reminder this is presented by the commonwealth club.

we are here with marianne cooper author of "cut adrift" and families in insecure times". my name is roxanne and my question is thinking about practical solutions for the financial insecurity that middle-class similar class pays what about the sharing economy where people can use the existing resources to help supplement their income and maybe even substantially like with uber and lift. could that be a solution that would have been a fact? >> i think it is having a positive effect talking to end driver talking about how

much his earnings had increased substantially thousands of dollars a month so you may be right but the issues that families grapple with it is not just one thing but everything together it doesn't matter he earns more money if he doesn't have health insurance he may have more savings but it is not the $50,000 so what is that solid foundation? that is what will lead to economic opportunity. >> speaking of the gender imbalance from trying to speak out what about removing that stigma

especially as the teenager? >> i'd never have them read about it. [applause] -- i never have been worried about it. >> to be on the right side of history i think everyone should call themselves a feminist. >> and to the .1 of the main points this is so well documented it affects all of us. very few are escaping but creates the problems we seek to solve those who are understanding to other groups they feel nervous and give up their hopes and

dreams but like we would talk about the tyranny of low expectations of big issue when women had 20 percent of the senate. no. 20% not a takeover. [laughter] [applause] but briefers that if men won 20 percent right the headline. so we should expect we are feminists because it is better for all of us. all of us coming together as a safety net for everyone is beneficial for though whole

society on gender equality. i am a feminist and you should be to because it is better for you. >> my name is peter. talk about family security as a veteran i learnt about a federal bill on the congress challenging use to consider them doing community service through one-year dialogue with friends and family since 9/11 isos logical paradox i have over 2,000 photos and only 1% provides feedback. but from that sociological

way to create a web site that challenges feedback from these experts. is that what you consider to provide feedback of what you create? >> sure. guess. bring it on. [laughter] >> thanks for that research and for facilitating that. talk about the importance of standing together but how optimistic are you we will stand closer together in 30 years and why? >> i am optimistic because people talk about it more. the first depp is behalf to it meant we have a problem

and create the 12 step plan do get through it to. i am optimistic because we realize is we have a problem even business leaders realize without a strong middle-class we cannot sell stuff that is bad news for the consumer driven economy. i may sociologists. we are a depressing lots. >> host: you can get her there sometimes. >> have i ever sent to anything optimistic? i doubt it. no. [laughter] >> host: sometimes you get optimistic about when there is a problem that people don't understand because if you can understand the root you can change it.

>> i am as optimistic as i can be. [laughter] >> 1.did you discussed with the rising cost of colleges now there was an article in "the new york times" it is the arena for the ldp because it is so expensive imaging it decrease but it is rising every year so does college play a role in this cycle as they send their children to the top schools and that a solution is feasible? will college remain a place for the elite? >> it is the central problem. with a group of kids who spend their entire life to

position them then you have other kids who cannot pay community colleges their hurts us as a country their rates of middle-class students has gone down. the exact opposite. is a huge problem and complicated answer but the gi bill of not only paid for education but money to support the dependents of the veterans. we have millions of people going to college so it is some kind of program like that maybe college can be less than four years. maybe trade schools or

vocational tracks that it is definitely part of the story. >> i am 12. [applause] i have a question. i was listening to npr another round of applause. [applause] >> host: if that isn't optimistic what is? and you are talking about how when boys are bossy they are leaders. but when girls are bossy they are the foul ball the word. people say i am a bossy person. >> host: another round of

applause. [cheers and applause] when you were breaking the barriers to ever look down upon because of your gender? >> yes. [laughter] we did all this research together. but the point is different expectations. when employees leave their called teachers when girls lead their called bossy that communicates we don't want girls to lead that cuts off opportunity slow to these deeply felt gender stereotypes but we can understand it is someone who is optimistic someone who was 12 after watching and p.r. who is not told she is

bossy but as executive leadership skills. congratulations. [cheers and applause] >> by name is andrew. go facebook. [laughter] good digging in to those observations of families and people so those on the lower end of the spectrum were more accepting to make the best of this situation but those wanted to buffer things. were they more pleasant to be around?

or the productive paranoia echo go-go but the court personality traits they had since they were 54 as a result of the events or what leads to this? been miguel thing sociologists believe in personality. [laughter] that is one of these two outcomes it is structural of forces upon us. that we actually create ways of acting. for example, going to this middle school graduation and in silicon valley they ask the children to create the future trajectory my senses lit up because where they

got a high school, college, graduate school, what they will do then they retire. they had a clear map of the educational system of our country than most americans do. because of opportunities those kids have been what they're asked to do it shapes who you are and in the world they you have control is easy to be the go getter. when parents can pay for private school and is not that hard. i don't believe personality traits lead them down the road but it is the condition and the choices that are presented to them. >> host: the very last

question. >> i hope it is a good one. [laughter] to explain the rise the increasing health care cost is talked about a lot but in my line of work when i see is parents spend a german this amount of money. so what have a bite to note is how significant? that they spend on free college education? >> there is a fair amount

that their spending on enrichment activities. sodium is have more resources than others so that gap with educational readiness there is a growing cost gap is getting smaller but between the middle-class kids is already seen when they enter kindergarten. . .