Minimum Wages: The New Economy

January 8, 1992

Bill Moyers takes a piercing look at how global economic changes are destroying the lives and livelihoods of hardworking Americans. The documentary follows several individuals and their families in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as they fight to make ends meet in the “new economy.” In sheer numbers, more jobs were created than lost in America during the last decade, but a look behind those numbers reveals a shortage of jobs that pay enough to support a family. The program intimately portrays the lives of workers and their families as they struggle to make it in today’s job market.

Follow the Families

Two families featured in this documentary -- the Stanleys and Neumanns -- were revisited in 1995 for Living on the Edge, and again in 2000 for Surviving the Good Times.

The latest update aired on Frontline on July 9, 2013.

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC BROADCATING

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