); mesosystems (i.e. The specific connections between the individual and microsystems); exosystems (i.e. external environment and circumstances such as the work experiences of the parents); and macrosystems (i.e. The larger elements of society such as national culture and political climate). The additional (fifth) system is the chronosystem (i.e. The long-term patterns that describe the lifetime experiences of the individual in society such as in relation to the other four systems). Ehrenreich's observations and conclusions seem to most exemplify the influence and effects of Bronfenbrenner's exosystems and chronosystems. Specifically, the exosystems concept explains how damaging to the child it can be for a parent to work in demeaning and backbreaking work day after day, especially without realistic hope of improving the life circumstances of the family. The privations of poverty are compounded by the various detrimental consequences of primary caretakers who are perpetually exhausted and hopeless. Likewise, Bronfenbrenner's chronosystems concept accurately describes the perpetual, multigenerational nature of long-term membership in the social class of the working poor whose children have substantially less opportunity...

In the modern United States, most relevant category of social roles that applies to Ehrenreich's work is social differentiation according to which the "unskilled laborers" or "working poor" provide cheap labor that is often exploited for the sake of those whose roles are higher on the social hierarchy of roles.
From the perspective of others, the working poor simply fill necessary roles as food servers, housekeepers, and sales associates within the social institutions and processes necessary for society to function. In theory, nobody is precluded by law or public policy from improving his or her situation in life or from elevating himself or herself to more fulfilling roles. In practice, however, Ehrenreich demonstrates how little value "equal opportunity" may actually have for those already mired in poverty and the circumstances faced daily by the one-third of American adults who comprise the working poor.