Who me, Poor?

The characteristics and reasons for urban poverty are manifold and seem to repeat across class structures: migration, culture shock, real estate costs and unrealistic expectations of city life, a lack of financial education, corporate cultures that perpetuate stereotypical workforces, a glamourised entrepreneurial culture that focuses on icons of spending instead of struggle, and economically and politically, the rise of the cashless credit economy and the demise of the thrift economy and its conservative icons.

The book will use the case studies of young Indians, typically in their first or second jobs, migrants to major Indian metros, living in these conditions. The reasons for the poverty they experience are varied, and influenced by the industries they work for, their family backgrounds, other financial obligations, social stratas, and peer groups. There are so far, no studies available for this in India, and is a rising phenomenon in the US
where it has been called 'poverty with no name'. Gayatri's short piece on the Urban Poor crossed 1.1 million views on Buzzfeed - the highest number for any Indian feature article to date.

Autorentext

Gayatri Jayaraman is a Mumbai-based editor and writer. She has over 19 years of experience in journalism, working on an intersectional study of social trends as impacted by politics, economics and culture. She has worked with India Today and Mint Lounge and has written extensively across digital and traditional media. She is 40 years old, grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, and Kodaikanal, South India. She is a single mother to a 16-year-old son, Dhruv, and lives in Thane with her German Shepherd mix, Zitto. This is her debut work of non-fiction.