Book Review: Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will To Survive

(Editor’s note: Read our review of the Netflix series Maid, which was inspired by this book.)

Review by Lisa Eible, DSW, MSW, LCSW

Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will To Survive, by Stephanie Land, foreword by Barbara Ehrenreich, Hachette Books, ISBN 9780316505116, New York, NY, 2019, 288 pages, $27.00, hardcover.

     Stephanie Land, in her memoir, Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive, tells her own story of  life in poverty. Land’s self-described work history is one of patching jobs together to survive as a young adult and as a mother. Land’s primary work is in housecleaning, and Maid outlines the intricacies of the emotional complexity and the extreme physical toll of this type of work. Further, the complexities of parenting a young child while working and the constant financial stress of never having enough, are well articulated by Land

     The strength of Maid is in the detailed telling of the complexity of social service systems, safety net programs, individual and childcare grants, and public healthcare (Medicaid). Land is specific in naming the manner in which these programs work to help and inadvertently hurt their recipients. For example, monthly income reporting to all benefit providers to ensure continued eligibility quickly becomes a time-consuming hardship. In a job like housecleaning where there is variability in the monthly income, earning just a few dollars more in a given month can result in the loss of benefits (i.e. childcare), which are serving to maintain a fragile life.

     Land is also articulate in writing about the opinions and  attitudes of others when one is receiving any type of public benefits - from the “you’re welcome,” as though an individual has personally paid for the benefits received, to the glares and comments that judge entitlement. Unsolicited responses are pervasive, demeaning, and have an emotional cost.

     Maid is in some ways a familiar read to social workers. Many of our clients live on the edge of survival, as Land did, one precarious job or benefit away from complete disaster and the familiar spiral of one loss or accident cascading into every area of one’s life. At some points in the memoir, Land comments directly on the experience with helpers – from worn out and unsympathetic case managers to those who listen carefully and are deeply compassionate. Land, in laying out the complexity of the social service systems, addresses the inefficiencies, the humiliations, time-consumptions, and the ways in which programs operate to keep the poor in a state of instability. 

     Reading Maid as a social worker, the challenge to social workers is clear. Kindness and respect are part of our core values, of course. The overwhelming nature of our jobs sometimes has us as attentive as we could be, and our attitudes make a huge difference to our clients. Additionally, social workers have a responsibility to be a part of repairing broken and fragmented systems. We can get involved in or create demonstration projects or other efforts that support the whole person in the situation, that have built-in flexibility for the ups and downs of life that are more easily absorbed by the non-poor, and that support and incentivize continued forward movement in job type and in education. For example, in many areas of the United States, a car is the critical component to finding and keeping work, yet programs that offer auto-related support are few and far between. 

     Finally, as Land articulates the vulnerability experienced with poverty and health status, the social work obligation is to advocate for universal types of health insurance, in which preventative, maintenance, and emergency health issues are appropriately covered and that do not result in further financial set back for low income workers. 

     Maid is a worthwhile read for social workers, to remind us again that however well we know our clients, we are only ever seeing a slice of their often-complicated lives, and our work is necessary and important in helping clients achieve the stability they desire for themselves and their families.

Reviewed by Lisa Eible, DSW, MSW, LCSW,  a consultant, writer, and educator with more than 28 years of social work experience. Lisa has advanced certificates in cultural competence and trauma. Professional interests include social work in healthcare, administration, leadership, supervision, Relational-Cultural Theory, and diversity issues.