The dramatic story of two blue-collar Milwaukee families over two decades. As they struggle to find their place in the new economy, living from paycheck to paycheck through good times and bad, the Neumanns and Stanleys confront choices for themselves and their families that have far-reaching consequences for the American way of life.

Bill Moyers takes a piercing look at how global economic changes are destroying the lives and livelihoods of hardworking Americans. The documentary follows several individuals and their families in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as they fight to make ends meet in the “new economy.” In sheer numbers, more jobs were created than lost in America during the last decade, but a look behind those numbers reveals a shortage of jobs that pay enough to support a family. The program intimately portrays the lives of workers and their families as they struggle to make it in today’s job market.