Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich

From Nickel and Dimed by Ehrenreich one learns of the poverty stricken population living in the US on minimum wage, which indicates that the future generations of working individuals is strived with hard work and struggle. Individuals depending on minimum wage as a means for entry into the professional world would sadly be disappointed with the living standards that such wages support.

The United States is considered to be one of the developed nations in the world with high per capita income and living standards. For an outsider, the US is the land of opportunities where any one can become rich over night with minimal efforts. However, the reality is far from such notions. Instead the US is also striving towards a worry-free life for its population and most importantly, its people are struggling to survive despite the high GDP and standards of living. At the heart of this Wall Street nation is a working population that is struggling to "get by" on low wages that are given to them as pay. The population is still strived with poverty, individuals depending on food stamps, soup kitchens and welfare money. For this reason, one observe that the American population is characterized by class distinction, one group enjoying high salaries and privileged lives while the other group is still struggling under minimum wages. Hence, the differences between these two classes of society not only make the US vulnerable to social malaise but also the cause for the rise in poverty population. Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed (2001) is a book that records just this differences and misconception about the American living standard.

The Author

Barbara Ehrenreich is a political and social columnist who has many essays, stories, articles and books on her credit. She addresses grave issues ranging from motherhood, feminity, poverty and war that prevail in the US society. She is a notable columnist for many renowned newspapers and magazines including Ms., Harper's, The Nation, The Progressive, The New Republic, The Atlantic Monthly and the New York Times Magazine. In the literary circle she is known for her non-fiction work on poverty.

Although she is known for her social works in works of fiction and journalism Ehrenreich had been a biology graduate student who never had any intention of being a writer even after she got her PhD from The Rockefeller University. Nevertheless, she became one through her involvement in social work and activities. With a scientific background Ehrenreich has the advantage of logical and critical thinking. Whatever project she undertakes, she pursues with zeal and aim to investigate the issue to the core. This is perhaps the reason why one observes her work is meticulously researched with correct and accurate information. Being a columnist for the above mentioned leading magazines and newspapers merely add to her skills as an observer, a researcher and a writer.

She has gained recognition for her Unitarian work through various grants and awards including "Ford Foundation Award for Humanistic Perspectives on Contemporary Society (1982), a Guggenheim Fellowship (1987-88) and a grant for Research and Writing from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (1995)." Other awards include National Magazine Award for Excellence in Reporting (1980). She is currently teaching at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley.

American socio-economic conditions from a macroeconomic point of view are comparable to any developed nation. Today the United States proudly considers itself to be one of the leading nations in the world with veto powers and nuclear technologies. Nevertheless the reality still remains the same for its people: the US people are still struggling to get out of poverty. People are living below the poverty level with minimum wages that does not cover for the costs of living. Ehrenreich's book "Nickel and Dimed" has been an attempt to cover issues that pertain to the same facts. In her book Ehrenreich's book she enumerates on her experience working as a minimum age earner. Her basic premise is that she wants to discover how single moms and single individuals especially female earn their living through minimum wage. Keeping in mind the new laws on food stamps for poor people enacted by the Bush administrations, Ehrenreich investigates life based on the $7 per hour wage. Her investigations take her across three cities from Florida, Maine to Minnesota. She works at four different low paying jobs as a waitress, housekeeper at a hotel, house cleaner and a Wal-Mart associate. In the course of three months she finds insight in life with minimum wage. Her revealing book Nickel and Dimed does not paint a positive picture for the kind of life one leads in the poverty stricken environment.

Discussion

At first read, Ehrenreich's book seems to address the trials and turbulence of single mothers and poor families. It not only enumerate on how working individuals who work at minimum wage are subjected to humiliation and embarrassment at the interview process as they are required to complete drug tests and personality tests, but they are also searched randomly by their potential employers for drugs, thefts and such threats. What is most surprising about the content of her book is that the whole process of employment for the poor is legal is according to the law. This means that it is the government and the law which have given the store owners, employers of multinational corporations and small restaurants the right to exploit poor working individuals in search of jobs. From these instances, one learns that Ehrenreich's book is not merely an outcry for working moms and poor individuals but also for those young professionals who are not aware of the gruesome process of entering the industry.

As young professionals and students of college and universities one often has the hazy notion that the world is filled with opportunities; high wages; executive level positions and growth. However, the reality according to Ehrenreich is much more gruesome and disappointing. The ladder to success is strived with hard work and involves living below poverty level. Young individuals, single mothers etc. who rely on the state to balance employment levels in the industry in fact does not provide for the benefits required by these individuals. To begin with individuals without degrees or years of experience at white collar jobs are considered blue collar workers. They are considered to be unskilled and their positions are determined on the number of hours spent at the work place as they are paid by the hours. Not only these jobs do not have scope for progress but they also limit the scope of progress. Employers who pay minimum wages tend to exploit these so called "unskilled" individuals and benefit from their stricken positions. College students and working mothers alike who depend on these jobs are subjected to hard work and exploitations. For young individuals when immediately faced with this picture of the industry is greatly crippled in their perceptions and aspiration. As she writes: "When I request permission to leave at about 3:30, another housekeeper warns me that no one has so far succeeded in combining housekeeping at the hotel with serving at Jerry's: "Some kid did it once for five days, and you're no kid." With that helpful information in mind, I rush back to number 46, down four Advils (the name brand this time), shower, stooping to fit into the stall, and attempt to compose myself for the oncoming shift."

Another aspect that is of importance for working moms as well as young professionals is that the cost of living is high while salaries are low for these apprentices. Individuals who rely on the minimum wage are gravely mistaken as it does not even begin to cover for living expenses. Minimum wage is the key to this degradation in living standards. The Bush administration has been promoting through food stamps and welfare funds based on minimum wages which in fact do not cover the bare necessities. Ehrenreich for example points out the price of rent of trailers ranging from $625 to 800 whereas as welfare workers people get seven dollars per hour which comes to around $1000 after taxes.

The above rent does not allow one to cover for living expenses such as food, clothing, child care or utilities. Even Wal-Mart which is considered to be one of the US most valued employers does not pay enough for its bright faced workers to cover these living expenses or rent. The result is that individuals who come into this industry would have to rely on additional income or engage two to three jobs to be able to survive. This aspect of the work environment is disheartening for individuals who are newly introduced to the working world.

Not only this but Ehrenreich has learned valuable lessons in the course of her experiment: any one who has lost their jobs or depend on the state agencies for help in food or money would greatly be disappointed as these individuals are given the leftovers or donated items from the famous food chains or community stores. These "tokens" do not in fact fill the hunger or even the nutrition requisition that the state claim to provide to the poor population. In fact most of the poverty stricken individuals who fall in this category of minimum wage earners are dependent on fast food and nutritionless meals available on the streets available cheaply which not only degrade their health but also increase diseases. This is not only typical among the poor but it has also seen prevalent among the working class. Working individuals who have been availing fancy cafeterias filled with nutritious food in the future would too join the forces of junk food eaters. Hence, the workplace combined with the low salaries given by employers is forcing the workforce in America to resort to street foods that promote illness rather than nutrition. Such food stuffs are just for fulfilling the stomach and have no nutrition values. For this reason, young professionals who have read of Ehrenreich should be cautioned against the habit of having junk food.