It used to be taken for granted that if you worked hard enough, you'd be able to afford a decent house, schooling for your kids, and health care. But former union activist and civil rights attorney Beth Shulman says that's no longer the case for some 30-million Americans working for poverty level wages and few if any fringe benefits.

Shulman appeared at SIU Carbondale earlier this year as a guest of the University Honors program to present her lecture, entitled Squeezed, Strapped and Trapped: The Costly Reality of the American Dream. She talked with Jak Tichenor about the impact of low wage jobs and the policy changes she advocates for change.