Book SummaryMaid, by Stephanie Land

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of Maid

Maid is Stephanie Land’s New York Times bestselling memoir of her life as a single mom struggling to make ends meet by working as a housekeeper and relying on government assistance.

While it’s not meant to be political, Land’s story does present a broader social commentary on the American “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” mentality. In contrast to the common perception that poverty is the result of laziness or bad choices, Land puts forth her own life as an example of how circumstances beyond a person’s control can force them into poverty and keep them there. She demonstrates how factors such as domestic abuse, lack of a support system, a weak labor market, and flawed government policies make it extremely difficult for her to lift herself out of poverty, no matter how hard she works. Maid is not so much a story of overcoming poverty as it is of surviving it. Land is, however, able to improve her circumstances.

(Shortform note: Following the events on which the book is based, Land went on to become a freelance writer. She received early support from the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, a nonprofit founded by Barbara Ehrenreich (author of Nickel and Dimed, and who also wrote the forward to Maid). Land wrote a viral article for Vox about her experiences as a maid, leading to a book deal. Maid was adapted into a popular, critically acclaimed Netflix miniseries, finally bringing Land the financial stability she worked so many years to achieve.)

The book moves back and forth in time, beginning with Land and her daughter’s life in a homeless shelter, then jumping backward to show how they ended up there. This...

Maid Summary Land’s Story

Stable, Middle-Class Childhood

Land was born in rural Washington, and she comes from generations of poverty on both sides of her family. However, her parents managed to achieve financial stability. The family moved to Alaska when Land was 7. There, she had a relatively middle-class upbringing, where she lived in the suburbs and attended church with her family.

Parents’ Divorce and Absence From Land’s Life

When Land was in her early 20s, her mother had an affair, resulting in her parents’ divorce. Land’s mother married a younger man and moved to Europe to live with him. As a result, Land and her mother rarely see each other. Land’s father also remarried.

Both of Land’s parents are now struggling financially. Land also feels that they both prioritize their relationships with their new spouses over their relationship with her.

Relationship With Jamie and Having a Baby

Land moves back to Washington from Alaska in her late 20s and meets Jamie. She and Jamie both work at cafes and in a variety of odd jobs in Port Townsend. Both have big plans for the future. Land has always wanted to become a writer; she dreams of attending the writing program at the University...

Maid Summary Working as a Maid

Land begins working for one maid service, then another. She makes minimum wage, which in 2009 in Washington State is $8.55 an hour. The company she ends up with doesn’t pay for travel time, and Land sometimes spends up to two hours a day traveling from house to house. It takes her at least an hour of work every day just to pay for the gas to get there. Land is unable to survive on her income from the maid service, so she later takes on her own clients as well.

Land’s work is physically demanding. She works alone, and her employer has strict rules about how much time she has to clean each house—some houses must be cleaned in as little as three hours. Land rushes to finish cleaning in the allotted time. Some of the houses are truly filthy and disgusting, which makes her task even harder. She doesn’t get a lunch break.

Injuries and Illness

Land’s work causes multiple illnesses and injuries. She injures her back moving furniture and has chronic back pain. Cleaning exacerbates a preexisting condition, causing a pinched nerve down her right arm that prevents her from gripping a sponge. She has to devise elaborate workarounds to scrub surfaces, and when she gets home at the...

Maid Summary Circumstances That Contribute to Land’s Poverty

Beyond being a story of Land’s life, Maid is a broader social commentary on the American “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” mentality. Land demonstrates that American stereotypes about the poor—that they are lazy, they are freeloaders, that their situation is the result of bad choices—aren’t only untrue and demeaning, they also ignore overarching causes of poverty that go beyond questions of personal responsibility.

Land puts forth her own life as an example of how systemic problems and circumstances beyond a person’s control can force them into poverty and keep them there. She shows how abuse, single motherhood, a weak labor market, the lack of an education or a support system, flawed government policies, and the cyclical nature of poverty all contribute to and compound poverty, making it extremely difficult for her to pull herself out no matter how hard she works.

Abuse

Jamie’s emotional, psychological, and verbal abuse of Land precipitates her descent into poverty. Land is forced to leave the home she shares with Jamie because she no longer feels safe, but she has nowhere else to go, and she ends up in a homeless shelter.

Not only does the abuse cause...

Maid Summary Flawed Government Policies

Throughout her story, Land illustrates how government policies feed into degrading stereotypes about the poor, while also making it extremely difficult for them to pull themselves out of poverty.

Government Policies Make Degrading Assumptions About the Poor

Land gives many examples of how government aid policies make degrading assumptions that the poor are uneducated, untrustworthy, dirty, or addicted to drugs. These policies reflect and amplify society’s negative views of people who live in poverty—views that Land herself internalizes.

For example, the homeless shelter that Land moves into after leaving Jamie has strict rules: random urinalysis, random unit inspections, a 10 p.m. curfew, no outside guests, and submission of monthly statements showing income and expenses. These rules make Land feel like she is an addict or a criminal.

In addition, when she lives in transitional housing, the police, firefighters, and paramedics perform frequent checks of tenants to make sure their apartments are clean or they’ve repaired their broken-down cars sitting in the parking lot, as if the authorities believe the poor are untrustworthy or dirty.

In order to qualify...

Maid Summary Cyclical Nature of Poverty

Besides the multiple independent factors that force Land into poverty and keep her there, Land has to contend with the cyclical way in which these factors interact with each other to exacerbate her poverty. Land and her daughter’s living conditions make Mia sick, which results in Land missing work. Complying with requirements for government aid also causes Land to miss work. And because Land and her daughter are barely surviving, any unforeseen expense or circumstance puts them at risk of homelessness.

Poverty Causes Illness and Injury, Which Causes Missed Work

The apartment where Land and Mia live the longest contains mold, which causes respiratory problems and ear infections for Mia. In turn, taking Mia to the doctor causes Land to miss work. (Although Land’s job makes her sick, too, she works when she’s sick or injured to avoid losing income.)

In addition, Mia frequently contracts illnesses at her daycare. The daycare only calls Land to pick Mia up when Mia is very sick, but when that happens, Land has to miss work as well.

Complying With Requirements for Government Aid Causes Missed Work

Land often has to take time off work—and forfeit earned income—to...

Shortform Exercise: Change Your Perceptions of Poverty

Maid paints a picture of poverty in America with which many readers are unfamiliar. Examine your perceptions of poverty and its causes.

Think about your earliest perceptions of poverty and the poor. What were your assumptions, and what were the sources of those opinions? (For example, school, family, books, personal experiences)