Sunday, July 10, 2011

Nickel and Dimed

In Nickel and Dimed Barbara Ehrenreich takes on mimumum wage jobs to expirence what life is like in poverty. Through these experiences Ehrenreich disproves many sterotypes about people who are poor. The first sterotype is that people who are poor are lazy. When in reality they are some of the most hardworking people. They work physcially demanding jobs such as the house keeper that Ehrenreich worked as in Maine. If someone is jobless this also does not mean that they are lazy. In many places it is hard to find and hold a job. Another sterotype is that if someone has a job they are fine. One job was barley enough for Ehrenreich and she did not have a husband or kids she had to provide for. An exzample of this sterotype in the book is when Ehrnreich is looking for assistance to help her get through the month. They are curious as to why she neds assistance when they find out she has a job. This really opened up my eyes and made me wonder why there is not more help for the poor. If working two jobs and government assistance is not enough something needs to change. Minimum wage workers can not afford schooling to obtain better jobs so they are stuck. It is time for the typical sterotypes of the lower class to change and we should begin wonder what needs to be done in order to help.

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