"In work-obsessed America, government policies paradoxically do far less to encourage gainful employment than policies in other countries. Sarah Damaske adds crucial clarity and depth to this observation during this urgent moment of mass economic crisis. Painstakingly researched, The Tolls of Uncertainty provides an intimate picture of how thoroughly disabling job loss can be, and illuminates more than any other book I know how unemployment's inequitable toll falls on those least able to weather it." --Leslie McCall, author of The Undeserving Rich: American Beliefs about Inequality, Opportunity, and Redistribution " The Tolls of Uncertainty sheds new light on the experience of unemployment. Sarah Damaske's illuminating interviews with unemployed workers show how class and gender profoundly shape this experience, and how America's stingy unemployment insurance system fails to adequately protect workers and their families." --Ofer Sharone, author of Flawed System / Flawed Self: Job Searching and Unemployment Experiences "Important and enlightening, The Tolls of Uncertainty provides a detailed treatment of what happens when people lose a job and search for another one. Sarah Damaske argues that although the process can be difficult for anyone, there are sharp and striking differences in how people experience job loss according to gender and class." --Andrew J.

Cherlin, author of Labor's Love Lost: The Rise and Fall of the Working-Class Family in America "This eye-opening book explores how class, race, and gender affect people's experience of unemployment and reveals the ways men's and women's reactions to job loss have changed in recent decades. The Tolls of Uncertainty is engaging and thoughtful." --Stephanie Coontz, author of The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap "Sarah Damaske offers an innovative take on an often mysterious yet very important topic--the American unemployment system. She masterfully fuses clear writing with personal experience, powerful storytelling, excellent signposting, and rigorous analysis. The careful untangling of race, gender, and class allows us to see how losing a job reverberates through people's careers and family prospects." --Jennifer M. Silva, author of We're Still Here: Pain and Politics in the Heart of America "In T he Tolls of Uncertainty , Sarah Damaske uses interview data with unemployed men and women across social classes to show how unemployment experiences vary based on gender and class background. Addressing a real gap in the literature on unemployment, this timely book's empirical purposes are clear.

This is a topic many are interested in and (unfortunately) also likely to experience themselves." --Aliya Hamid Rao, author of Crunch Time: How Married Couples Confront Unemployment.