If I Had a Hammer: Retraining That Really Works

By Margaret Hillyard Little

Book Overview

This book is about poor women, many of them single mothers, Aboriginal, or both, who have defied the odds to become apprenticing carpenters. To do so they have juggled child-care schedules, left abusive partners, and kicked drug habits to participate in a unique intensive retraining program. Through the voices of the women participants and their instructors, Margaret Little analyzes the program to reveal the struggles and triumphs of low-income women. She demonstrates that there is a desperate need for retraining programs that provide real opportunities for economic independence. She also argues that, in an era of workfare and time-limited welfare, such programs are an effective strategy for welfare reform.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0774811196
• ISBN13: 9780774811194
• Release Date: July 2005
• Publisher: University of British Columbia Press
• Length: 192 Pages