Post by matthewlogan on Aug 13, 2011 15:17:18 GMT -5
Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich is an interesting book about the welfare crisis in America. She addresses the issue of how the welfare program isn’t enough to sustain healthy living status. In 2001, minimum wage was $5.51 an hour; which is well below the $7.35 an hour we have today. During Ehrenreich’s “project,” she took on the life of living in poverty. She worked has a waitress, maid, caretaker, bagger at wal-mart and other low-wage jobs. By working at these low-wage and physical/emotionally demanding jobs, she quickly learned that she could not support herself.
Ehrenreich had extreme difficulty finding decent shelter at a price she could afford. Almost all of her co-works either had unhealthy shelter or had none. Ehrenreich also quickly discovered while working at the Hearthside that one low-wage job wasn’t enough. She took another waitressing job at Jerry’s which pays more than minimum wage. The physical demand is too much of a toll on her body. She begins to have pain in her arms, shoulders, head and she isn’t able to sleep due to her shifts.
Eventually she gives up and moves to a different city and takes on the challenge again. Ehrenreich does this several times throughout the book. Working as a maid for The Maids, which nearly kills her from lack of sufficient hydration, food intake and pain. Although Ehrenreich is smart from her background as a biology major and is of good health at the beginning of the “project.” Life in poverty and working minimum wage jobs will destroy a person. Although, Ehrenreich did not fully experience a life in poverty because of her assets. She had emergency money, money to get started up on, a car, two story house and a real life to go back to when she wore out. When she got in trouble she could use her savings to get out of a jam. If she couldn’t pay the rent, she could simply go back to her house and rest up while smoking some marijuana. She was never fully immersed in poverty and feeling the real hardships and pains millions of people go through every day. Those people cannot just quit and go live a different life. No. They will be forced to be jobless and homeless.
Nickel and Dimed does a great job of bring the impending issue that so many Americans cannot support themselves on a daily bases in a manner of quality living. “It is impossible to live working a minimum wage job in America” (Barbara Ehrenreich). This book helped opened my eyes on how lucky we are to have a house under our head, food in our fridge, clean water to drink and family to support us. We as a society take so many things for granted and don’t realize the good things we have. We expect to have everything, while others just struggle to have nothing just struggle to eat every day. This book is a great eye opener and addresses an important crisis.
Ehrenreich had extreme difficulty finding decent shelter at a price she could afford. Almost all of her co-works either had unhealthy shelter or had none. Ehrenreich also quickly discovered while working at the Hearthside that one low-wage job wasn’t enough. She took another waitressing job at Jerry’s which pays more than minimum wage. The physical demand is too much of a toll on her body. She begins to have pain in her arms, shoulders, head and she isn’t able to sleep due to her shifts.
Eventually she gives up and moves to a different city and takes on the challenge again. Ehrenreich does this several times throughout the book. Working as a maid for The Maids, which nearly kills her from lack of sufficient hydration, food intake and pain. Although Ehrenreich is smart from her background as a biology major and is of good health at the beginning of the “project.” Life in poverty and working minimum wage jobs will destroy a person. Although, Ehrenreich did not fully experience a life in poverty because of her assets. She had emergency money, money to get started up on, a car, two story house and a real life to go back to when she wore out. When she got in trouble she could use her savings to get out of a jam. If she couldn’t pay the rent, she could simply go back to her house and rest up while smoking some marijuana. She was never fully immersed in poverty and feeling the real hardships and pains millions of people go through every day. Those people cannot just quit and go live a different life. No. They will be forced to be jobless and homeless.
Nickel and Dimed does a great job of bring the impending issue that so many Americans cannot support themselves on a daily bases in a manner of quality living. “It is impossible to live working a minimum wage job in America” (Barbara Ehrenreich). This book helped opened my eyes on how lucky we are to have a house under our head, food in our fridge, clean water to drink and family to support us. We as a society take so many things for granted and don’t realize the good things we have. We expect to have everything, while others just struggle to have nothing just struggle to eat every day. This book is a great eye opener and addresses an important crisis.