If I Had a Hammer

This book is about poor women, many of them single mothers, Aboriginal,
or both, who have defied the odds to become apprenticing carpenters. To
do so they have juggled child-care schedules, left abusive partners,
and kicked drug habits to participate in a unique intensive retraining
program. Through the voices of the women participants and their
instructors, Margaret Little analyzes the program to reveal the
struggles and triumphs of low-income women. She demonstrates that there
is a desperate need for retraining programs that provide real
opportunities for economic independence. She also argues that, in an
era of workfare and time-limited welfare, such programs are an
effective strategy for welfare reform.