ND from Andrea Arthofer

Blog Question for Nickel and Dimed:

In the book Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Ehrenreich, the struggles of the poverty are revealed when she goes undercover and tries to make it living on a minimum wage job. The biggest struggles she faces are the lack of money, working miserable jobs, and getting treated unfairly.

The most obvious problem presented in the story is the lack of money. Ehrenreich struggles trying to support herself working two minimum wage jobs at one time, and wonders how a person could support a whole family working a minimum wage job. Her eyes are opened by witnessing her coworkers trying to survive. She sees them living in their cars because they can’t afford homes. Another problem she has to face is the horrible conditions she has to deal with in her jobs. She is forced to do degrading tasks, such as cleaning toilets. She also discusses that the demands of low-class jobs are much higher than people typically stereotype them. She says this type of work requires a lot of stamina, fast learning, memory, focus, and quick thinking. Repetitive movements done in this job can lead to stress injuries that often have to be worked through in order to continue doing the jobs. The last major thing Barbara Ehrenreich noticed is the change of treatment she receives when living as a woman in poverty. Richer people were often times rude instead of sympathetic. Even employers treated her differently. She could not get a job as a housekeeper because employers reserved that job for “unskilled” people that didn't speak fluent english.

After having her eyes opened by the truth of poverty conditions, Ehrenreich suggests that citizens working minimum wage jobs are making sacrifices so that other citizens can have the privilage of living in better conditions.

Question 17:

            After reading Ehrenreich’s opinion and experiences, I have come to the conclusion that it is better to have a minimum wage job than to have no job at all. With a minimum wage job you have steady income to support yourself and family with. Living conditions with this type of job may not be as good, but at least there is something to depend on. This book opened my eyes and did make me a little angry with how society treats lower-class citizens. I was also angry with how little upper-class citizens seem to care about people living in poverty.